


Sims 2: The Sitcom

by Milk_Tea_Cheese



Series: The Sims 2 Stories [1]
Category: The Sims (Video Games)
Genre: Alexander Goth deserves Better, Clones are fun, Dina Caliente is a Snake, Don Lothario has Some Rights, Everyone deserves better, Multi, The Kids and Teens are not Alright, The Sims 2, Tybalt Capp isn't being Nice, lots of characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 65
Words: 72,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23079571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milk_Tea_Cheese/pseuds/Milk_Tea_Cheese
Summary: The night that Bella Goth disappeared was the night everything started to go wrong in Pleasantview, Veronaville, and Strangetown.
Relationships: Angela Pleasant/Tank Grunt, Bella Goth/Mortimer Goth, Cassandra Goth/Don Lothario, Dina Caliente/Mortimer Goth, Dirk Dreamer/Lilith Pleasant, Juliette Capp/Ripp Grunt, Miranda Capp/Rick Contrary, Nina Caliente/Buzz Grunt, Ophelia Nigmos/Johnny Smith, Puck Summerdream/Mercutio Monty/Hermia Capp, Romeo Monty/Meadow Thayer
Series: The Sims 2 Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714771
Comments: 43
Kudos: 15





	1. Goth-Lothario

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! My name is Tea, and I love the Sims.  
> This story will probably focus more on some of the teens in the neighborhoods, and the Goths of course. I will answer any questions you have about this fic if you drop a comment!

_165 Sim Lane, Thursday, 10:30 P.M._

It was a cool summer night in Pleasantview, and half of the town was asleep, or on their way to bed. Babies, toddlers and children were being tucked in, and teenagers were staying up late on their phones or sneaking out after curfew in secret.

It was no different in the Goth household. Bella had just put her ten year old son, Alexander, to bed. He had refused to be tucked in at first when Bella asked, but eventually allowed her to do so. He drew the line at a nightlight and bedtime story, however. He was a young man now, after all, and he didn't need such coddling anymore. Bella couldn't help but laugh at this statement, yet she agreed to his terms.

Cassandra Goth, on the other hand, couldn't sleep. It wasn't because of nightmares, fortunately. No, earlier that day, Don Lothario had asked her to be his wife! It was a little surprising to have the town flirt want to settle down with someone like her, but she had accepted. Now, she was simply staring at her ring. It was a simple little thing, but Cassandra wasn't one for extravagence anyway. Tomorrow, she would be meeting up with Don to plan the wedding, and going to Bluewater Village with her mother to shop for a dress.

Mortimer was worried. He had met Don Lothario quite a few times in the past, and each time he had voiced his disapproval. He didn't want his daughter's heart broken by a man like him, and here she was, marrying him. The elder sighed, rubbing his temples. Well, he certainly didn't like this at all, but he could at least pretend to be happy for Cassandra's sake. She wasn't the precocious child she used to be anymore. She could make her own decisions for herself.  
He turned off the bedside lamp, climbing into bed to get some much needed shut-eye. It was a big day tomorrow, and he wouldn't slack off.

Bella had been making her way to her and her husband's room, when she heard the phone downstairs ringing. She wanted to ignore it, but what if it was important? No one would call this late just casually. Silently, she made her way down the creaky, wooden stairs and into the hall. She picked the phone up off the hook, pressing it to her ear.

"Hello, this is Bella Goth. Who might I be speaking to?" She asked, pulling her classic red heels closer to her to put them on.

 _"Hey, beautiful,"_ a husky male voice drawled, _"Think you can come over for a moment? I need to talk to you."_

Bella sighed inwardly in annoyance. She could recognize that voice anywhere, "Mr. Lothario, it's nearing 11 o'clock and I'm exhausted. What could you possibly need right now?"

 _"There's no need to be like that, baby. Just come over, and I'll explain."_ And with that, he hung up.

Of all the times to call her... Why couldn't he just tell her on the phone? It's not like anyone else was up at this time to listen in. Oh well, might as well get this over with. The sooner she finishes this conversation with Don, the sooner she can go to sleep.

* * *

_150 Main Street, Thursday, 11:25 P.M._

And with that, the plan was set in motion. Don had proposed to Cassandra, and planned on marrying her next month. Now, the next step was to get rid of a problem: Bella Goth.

His partner in crime, Dina Caliente, had plans for Mortimer. It was up to him to somehow take Bella out of the picture, and he had a plan. Sure, it was a pretty cruel idea, but at least it was far cleaner than Dina's idea. He wouldn't want to be on Dina's bad side.

*Ding dong!*

And there was the lady of the hour herself. Don hopped up from the couch, a little too quickly, and made his way to the door to reveal a certain red clad woman. He gave her a charming grin, and escorted her inside.  
"Hello, beautiful. I'm so glad you could make it to my humble abode. Please, make yourself at home. I'll pour us a drink." With that, the man made his way to the kitchen.

Bella wasn't impressed by this, but followed him in nonetheless. "I don't really appreciate the pet names when you're marrying my daughter, so let's just cut to the chase; why did you call me?" She stood by the front door, waiting for an answer.

"Not here, beautiful. Follow me, okay? I promise to answer you if you do." Don seemingly ignored her comment. He carried two glasses and a bottle of Cognac in his arms as he made his way to the roof. Sighing, Bella followed him up against her better judgement. This had better be good.

Once they were outside, Don set the cups and bottle on the table and pulled a seat out for Bella, which she took. He poured them a drink before taking his own seat, "Now then, I know you're wondering why I called you here. You've made that very clear. And here's your answer; I think it's in your best interest to leave town."

Bella looked at him incredulously, "Excuse me?" Was he dumb or something? Why would she just leave town while her daughter's wedding is so soon? "Why exactly should I do that?"

Don took a sip of his drink before answering, "Bella, baby, don't take it personally. I just think you need a little vacation! I hear Twikkii Island's gorgeous this time of year. I'll even pay for your ticket."

She really wanted to smack the look off of his face, but refrained. Did he honestly think that would work? "No thank you. Good night, Mr. Lothario. I don't understand why you couldn't have said this over the phone." Bella stood up from the small table, prepared to leave. That is, until Don grabbed her wrist quite painfully.

"Leaving so soon, Bella? But you haven't even taken a sip of your drink... or appreciated how lovely the stars looked." It sounded goofy, but his voice had taken a dangerous tone all of a sudden. This was bad.

"Let go of me, Mr. Lothario! I'll scream and someone will call the police!" She tried to pull away from the man, but he was far stronger than her. He dragged her over to the telescope, to the small railing.

"Go ahead and scream, no one's going to hear you. I'll drop you if you do." He was seriously going to murder her, it seems. It's a shame she gave up athletics when she was younger.

"You'll never get away with this, Lothario. It'll look suspicious with my car still out here in the morning and I'm not here." Bella gripped onto the telescope nearby, ready to hit Don if necessary.  
"I already have, dear. I already have a plan and a backup if necessary. No one will suspect a thing."

Suddenly, there was a bright blue light coming from the sky, which caused Don to let go of Bella to shield his eyes. From what he could see, the light was carrying Bella into the air along with his telescope.

No way.  
They weren't supposed to exist, and yet here they are. In Pleasantview. On top of Don's house.

Before he could do or say anything, the light had sucked Bella up into what looked to be a UFO from the movies, and it had zoomed off into the night, carrying a screaming Bella as if nothing had happened.


	2. Pleasant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here's the Pleasant family! Angela and Lilith are way nicer to each other here than in game. Curse Mary Sue and Daniel for neglecting Lilith.

_215 Sim Lane, Friday, 7:40 A.M._

Lilith Pleasant could hear an annoying ringing in her ear. More annoying than her parents yelling at her or each other for minor reasons, or more annoying than Tank Grunt's need to shout like a drill sergeant in boot camp.

_Thank god it's Friday. Sadly, it's still the first week of school._

Lilith reached over and shut off her alarm clock in a not so gentle way. Why did her parents insist on getting it for her? Her and Angela's phones work perfectly fine. But whatever, their house, their rules.  
The gothic girl slipped on her house shoes, trudging over to her girlier twin's room. She should at least have a little fun before getting dressed.

She slowly opens Angela's door, making sure it didn't creak too much. Then, she tiptoed over to the window, and pulled back the pink, frilly curtains. This caused the other girl to turn her body toward the wall, and pull her covers up. It felt mean to do this, but...

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty! Time to get up!" Lilith laughed, jumping on her twin. The girl woke up with a cry, and began lightly hitting Lilith.  
"Oh, get off you big whale! You totally ruined the amazing dream I had!" With another laugh, Lilith rolls off of Angela, laying across the bed, "I'm sorry, but that's never going to get old."  
Angela rolls her eyes, but smiles along with Lilith anyway, "It's funny now, but wait until later. I'll get you when you least expect it." And with that, the redhead climbs out of her bed and heads towards her closet. This prompted Lilith to go back to her room and get dressed for the day as well.

A few minutes later, the girls went downstairs to fix bowls of cereal. Their mother, Mary Sue, went to work already, but left them their bags of lunch on the counter. Their father, Daniel, was watching the news in the living room, and it actually sounded pretty interesting this time.

"Bella Goth went missing last night? What was she doing out so late anyway?" Angela wondered out loud while they were waiting for their bus. Bella seemed like a nice person during the few times she's spoken to her, so it was awful that something like this could happen to someone like her.  
"I knew that Don Lothario guy was weird. Me and Hermia saw him with Cassandra the other day, but I didn't know that they were dating." Lilith said, finishing up her bowl and putting it in the sink.  
"Wait, wait, wait. Juliette and I saw him with Dina Caliente two days ago. They were holding hands, kissing, and it looked like he bought her a few things from the mall!"

The twins looked at each other, coming to a realization.  
Don Lothario was a dirty little two-timing cheater. They absolutely had to tell their friends at school.

* * *

 _SimCity High, Friday, 8:40 A.M_.

The twins hopped off the school bus, stepping into the large school. SimCity High was funded by the Landgraabs, and it was located in the city, surrounded by towering skyscrapers. Across from it was the city park, where the teens usually hung out after school.

Immediately, the girls found their respective friends by their lockers. For Angela, it was Juliette Capp and her sister Hermia, and for Lilith it was Miranda Capp and Ophelia Nigmos. The twins had shared what they had learned on the news with their friends, but it turns out they knew about a lot of it.

"It was all over our phones and the T.V. this morning," Juliette said, folding her arms, "They say that it was aliens who did it. I don't really believe it, though. They usually kidnap men, don't they?"  
"Yes, but they don't kidnap men all the time. They usually go after people that are actually interested in seeing them," Hermia said, resting an arm on Juliette's shoulder, "Something tells me there's more to this story than meets the eye, though. Everyone knows Bella Goth and Mortimer Goth are married and in love. Why would she run off to see another man?"

"Ripp told me, Miranda, and Johnny just before you came. General Buzz is on his way to Pleasantview to check it out as we speak," Ophelia said, fiddling with her striped tie, "I know that we shouldn't worry about it, but what if it really is the aliens instead of that Don talking out his ass? Tensions are gonna rise again, and it might just turn into an intergalactic war this time."  
"Don't sweat it too much, 'Lia," Miranda began, adjusting her shades, "I know you're worried about Johnny and his family, but they're strong! If push comes to shove, we could probably hide them in Veronaville. The old people are too focused with their dumb feud to care about what we do. They probably won't notice us sneaking in a few aliens if we disguise them well enough." That didn't ease Ophelia's nerves all the way, but it was a start.

Soon enough, the bell for class rang and the groups broke up. All throughout the school, rumors about what happened to Bella Goth spread like wildfire. Even a few teachers could be heard talking about it with each other, though out of earshot from the students.

Finally, it was lunch time. The twins grabbed their sack lunches and headed towards their usual table. They were joined by Juliette and Miranda, who had also brought their lunches from home, courtesy of Consort.  
"So, you two live the closest to that guy's house compared to us. Did you see anything suspicious last night?" Miranda asked, stabbing her fork into some carbonara.

Lilith spoke up this time, "Angela went to sleep early because she was tired from studying. All I saw from the window was a bright blue light, but I'm pretty sure anyone in town could see that if they were awake. We do have something we could share though." Right before Lilith could say anything else, they were interrupted by a loud voice.

"Hello, ladies! Your dream guy has arrived." Classic Ripp, always knows how to make an entrance. He slings his arms around Juliette and Miranda's shoulders, grinning, "So, how're my favorite twins and Capps? I hope I wasn't interrupting some girl talk."

"One, we're probably the only twins you know." Angela said, pointing her fork at Ripp.  
"And two, you're going to hurt Hermia's feelings," Juliette said, looking at something on her phone, "Anyway, we were just talking about the whole Bella case."  
Ripp nods, lowering his arms, "Dad signed up to investigate it. We're going to be moving there for a few months so it's easier to check out. Too bad I gotta leave Ophelia and Johnny behind. It's going to be torture not seeing them around."

"You're being dramatic, Ripp," Juliette finally shuts her phone, looking around the group, "We all hang out downtown most of the weekend anyway. Besides, you can tease Lilith and Dirk for us! And you won't have to deal with the Beakers being weird either. It's a win-win, see?"  
The long haired boy's eyes twinkled mischievously, looking at Lilith and earning a glare from her, "You're right, Jules. I need to cheer up! But anyway, what were you all talking about?"

This time, Angela spoke, "We were talking about Don Lothario. He's dating Cassandra Goth, who is Bella's daughter. But then I saw him with Dina Caliente once too, so..."  
"He's a two-timing creep," Lilith chimed in, resting her head on her hand, "Playing two women like that at the same time. I say that we should tell Cassandra."  
"Wait. I can see where you're coming from, but why would she believe us without proof?" Miranda said, standing up, "She probably thinks that he gave up his womanizing ways for her, honestly. We'd have a better chance looking for Bella than getting Cassandra to believe us.

The rest of the table fell silent, knowing that this was true. But it did give them an idea.

* * *

_SimCity Park, Friday, 2:50 P.M._

School was out, and the teens were hanging out at the park as usual. Juliette and Ripp were sharing a large banana split on a bench, Hermia and Miranda were having a rather intense Pokémon battle on their Nintendo DSes, Johnny and Ophelia were simply holding onto each other silently, and Lilith and Angela were checking their various texts.

"So." Miranda spoke up, causing everyone else to look up from their activities, "Do you remember what I said at lunch? I think we really should look for Mrs. Goth."  
Juliette looked at her cousin, leaning back against the metal park bench, "I agree, but where would we even start? If it were aliens, they could still have her. If it were someone else.. she could be halfway across the forest, dead."  
"Actually, I have an idea. We could check Strangetown, and see if any aliens came through last night." Johnny said, looking around at everyone, "It's no secret that there's plenty of us in Strangetown, so it's worth a shot. My parents have seen you guys there anyway. It wouldn't be suspicious."

The teens all nodded, processing this information. This time, Hermia spoke up, "We could do that. Let's do it this weekend, if we're not all busy. I know that me, Juliette, and Miranda aren't."  
"We'll have to see. Angela's been training so she could sign up for the cheer team, and I've been working on my art.."  
"I would, but the General's having me, Tank, and Buck pack up for Pleasantview tonight and tomorrow. Maybe we could do it Sunday? Or next weekend."

The teens elected to do it next weekend. They'd have far more time to do it then than cram it all in one day. Besides, they could probably camp out at Johnny's house next Friday.  
And with that, the teens made small group chat to discuss their plans more easily. It was getting pretty late too, so they all decided to head home.

Angela and Lilith didn't know what was waiting for them when they stepped through the front door at home.


	3. Caliente

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's favorite sisters, the Calientes!

_170 Main Street, Friday, 9:30 A.M._

The town was in an uproar, and all Dina could do was smile. Don had done his part of the deal, and now it was Dina's time to shine.  
Nina was genuinely concerned. Last night, she had seen Bella enter Don's house and had seen the blue lights too. She had wanted to tell the police when they came, but Dina insisted that they didn't.

"Nina, why don't you get out of the house for a while?" Dina asked in a sugary voice. She planned on seducing Mortimer Goth tonight while Don was consoling Cassandra. As much as she hated the bespectacled woman, the plan wouldn't succeed without her, "Why don't you go out and meet someone too? We can't live together forever, you know." An innocent suggestion, but Dina didn't really need her sister getting in the way.

"It's okay, Dina. I know that you're inviting a guy over tonight. Just try not to break your bed again, yeah? They're expensive and hard to bring up the stairs." Before her blonde sister could respond, the redhead quickly left the house.  
She didn't feel like going downtown, mostly because she forgot to take the car keys with her when she left. There was still police tape around Don's house, so she couldn't even be pampered by him.

Wait. That's a moving truck following a car.  
The Caliente sisters only moved in last week, but they could tell that new people were pretty rare in a small town like this. Maybe she could be the first one to introduce herself to them?

The truck seemed to be headed towards 130 Sim Lane. That was pretty close to the Goth household, so she wondered if the person moving in was rich. It didn't really matter to her much, Dina was the gold digger, but it was quite interesting. Nina knew that this was a four bedroom house, did this person have a family?

She soon got her answer. From the back of the car, a teenage boy with long brown hair and a little boy with blond hair emerged. From the front of the car, an older and quite handsome man wearing a suit covered in medals emerged, followed by another teen boy with camo pants and matching face paint.  
Immediately, the teen in camo put the long haired boy in a headlock, yelling. The blond haired boy carried a small box to the door, waiting for someone to open it.

"Ripp! Tank! That's enough. Quit your lollygagging and help your brother take the boxes inside, or you get 50 more push-ups tomorrow!" This caused the two teenagers to let go of each other, and begrudgingly take some boxes out of the now open truck.

This was going to be an interesting night.  
Nina approached the shouting man carefully, throwing on an award-winning smile, just like Dina showed her, "Hello! I'm Nina Caliente. Welcome to Pleasantview. Do you need some help with your boxes?" They looked pretty heavy, but hey. She had experience with carrying a bed frame up stairs.

The man's attention went to her, and he paused for a moment. After a few short moments, he cleared his throat and put his arms behind his back, "General Buzz Grunt. I appreciate the warm welcome, but we don't need help." With that, he walked up to the door and unlocked it. His sons entered the house and shoved each other, clearly eager to claim their rooms.

Nina wouldn't let him get away from her so quickly. Buzz seemed pretty interesting, and she was dying to get to know him. Be confident like Dina, be confident like Dina.  
She approaches him again.

* * *

_170 Main Street, Friday, 11:50 A.M._

Nina had been out of the house for a few hours now, but Dina was still setting the mood. She dimmed the lights in the house and burned a few candles. She left rose petals leading upstairs to the hot tub, and left some wine and glasses on the bar upstairs.

Finally, she dusted off her tight dress, getting rid of non-existent dust. It was time to call Mortimer. Was it wrong to prey on an unsuspecting rich old man like this? Yeah, but she didn't really care. It's not like she truly loved him or anything like that.  
She picked up the phone, dialed the man's phone, and waited for it to stop ringing, which it did rather correctly.

 _"This is Mortimer Goth speaking. To whom do I owe the pleaaure?"_ The man sounded weary, as if he had woken up from a nap.  
"Oh, Morty! What a pleasant surprise! Could you pretty please come over for a while? Nina and Don are out, and I'm so very _bored_!" She hoped that he would accept the invitation, otherwise she'd have to come over to his house herself.  
The other line was silent for a while, but finally, _"I'll be right over."_

Dina smiled again that morning.  
As soon as Mortimer pulled up and walked towards the door, Dina was throwing herself at him with crocodile tears in her eyes, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Morty! Bella didn't deserve something like that! You poor thing, let me get you a drink..." Without a word, Dina escorted Mortimer inside. He didn't protest at all, and that was good.  
"Thank you, Miss Caliente. I appreciate this." Mortimer took a sip of his drink while sitting at the bar. He had a faraway look on his face.  
"Of course, Morty! If there's _anything_ you need at all..." She wraps her arms around his shoulders from behind, "Just let me know, okay?"

Phase three complete.


	4. Capp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliette Capp deserves way better. I apologize for hurting her like this.
> 
> Tybalt's pretty mean in this fic too, sorry if you liked him.

_Capp Manor, Saturday, 2:35 P.M._

Juliette was upset, but she didn't show it on her face.

Yesterday before going home, she spoke to someone important to her. Someone who had been there for her when she had to break up with Romeo Monty. That person wasn't involved in the Capp-Monty feud, so maybe it'd be alright if they were together. Tybalt and Consort wouldn't have a good reason to attack them. Of course, she'd have to fess up about the drama surrounding her family eventually, but for now she just wanted to live in the moment.  
"Hey, Ripp. Before you go, I have something to tell yoy." Juliette looked down at her feet, causing the boy to look worried, "What's up, Jules? Is there something wrong?" He put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to finally look up at him.

"I have something to confess. I like you, a lot. You've had my back for so long, Ripp. I couldn't help but start to fall for you. And.. I'd like to be your girlfriend if you'll have me. If you don't like me back, that's perfectly fine with too, I just hope that we can still be friends im the end." She moved away from the taller boy's touch, waiting for a response. She could see that Ripp was in a state of shock, and he looked like he had seen a ghost, "...Ripp?" Her calling his name caused him to snap out of it. "Y-You're serious about this? You actually like me?"

"That's what a confession is for, right?" He went silent again, before picking her up to spin her. She squeaked because she wasn't expecting it, but they both burst into laughter afterwards, "To answer your question, Juliette, I'd love to be your boyfriend. Let's talk some more tonight, okay? I'll text you." She nodded in agreement, excited for later on.

Juliette had been so happy when she came home, it was surprising to see Hermia, their brother Tybalt, and their grandfather Consort looking serious.  
"You're late. Where were you?" Tybalt's arms were folded, and he looked pretty angry.  
"I left something at school. Now what's all of this about? Why does everyone look so upset?"  
It was Hermia's turn to speak, "...Grandfather set up some marriages for us. To strengthen the Capps when we age up."

Juliette could feel the color leave her face. Arranged marriages? But.. but she had _just_ told Ripp that she liked him!  
"What-? But we-" Consort raised a hand, which shut up Juliette quickly.  
"It took me some time, but I managed to find the best possible matches for you three. Tybalt will be marrying Miss Helena Tempest, and she is another young debutante like Hermia and Juliette. Hermia will be marrying Mr. Demetrius Knight. If I'm not mistaken, he already does attend your school."

Hermia and Tybalt seemed to be fine with this, but Juliette nearly cried once she heard who she would be betrothed to.  
"Juliette, your match is Mr. Henry Paris. He is slightly older than you by three years, but that shouldn't be much of a problem. Please understand that this is beneficial for the family. You are all dismissed." And just like that, the young Capp's heart broke.

That was yesterday, however. It wasn't a terrible dream either, sadly. She had never met Paris, but she already despised him.  
She needed to talk to someone other than her siblings, and so she began texting Angela.

_J: Angie. We need to talk._   
_A: What's wrong, Jules?_   
_J: Well, I told Ripp that I liked him..._   
_A: Omg!! Did he say yes?_   
_J: He did, but that's not the problem._   
_A: Then what is it?_   
_J: Yesterday, I learned that I have to marry some guy named Paris. I really don't want to, but I have to for the family._   
_A: You still do arranged marriages in Veronaville? Gosh.. I don't know what to say. Do your siblings have to do it too?_   
_J: Yeah. They seem alright with it too, and I hate it! Maybe I'll go to Bluewater and calm down.._

And with that, she threw her phone down, not reading Angela's final reply.  
Would it be alright if she changed her name and ran away to Pleasantview? She knew that this day would come, but she didn't expect to be forced into this at only age _sixteen_. Sometimes, she truly hated being a Capp.

* * *

Hermia knew her little sister was hurting, but what could she do about it? After all, she had crushes on a Summerdream and a Monty of all people.  
Tybalt offered no sympathy, instead saying, "You two knew this would happen, and you fell in love with other people anyway. It's not grandfather's fault that your hearts got broken."  
In response, Hermia threw Tybalt out of the room and locked him out.

He was completely loyal to the Capps, no matter what happened or who they hurt. Hell, when he found out Romeo and Juliette were secretly dating last year, he beat up both Romeo and his brother Mercutio and threatened to tell Consort.  
Juliette and Romeo broke up the next day because of this.

The only thing that helped her smile was to think about the fact that this was the only way Tybalt was getting a girlfriend. Everyone else pretty much avoided him, and it's because he's so hot-headed. She, Juliette, and even Miranda pointed this out, but he just brushed them off.

Well, whatever. It was his funeral.  
Once she decided Tybalt was gone, she made her way over to Juliette's room and knocked.  
"Hey, Jules?"  
"Go away, Mia. I don't want to talk to anyone."  
"Come on out. Please. I'll take you out somewhere. Just... please."

She could hear shuffling from behind the door, and it was finally open. Juliette's eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was a mess. Hermia couldn't help but try and fix it.  
"Are you mad at me?"  
"I don't know yet. But how can you accept your life being chosen for you, Mia? It's horrible. We're not dolls for them to create stories with! We're people with feelings and emotions! I want to date who I want to date, and do what I want to do."  
Hermia couldn't help but agree.  
"I know, I know, but try and look on the bright side. When we age up, we can do as we please. Since Tybalt's the oldest, he's inheriting the business, remember?"  
"Well, yeah, but.. is it worth getting disowned over? I don't like how we do things, but I still love the family."  
"Sometimes it is. If you really want to chase your dreams freely, then yes, it's worth getting disowned over I think."

Juliette considered this, slowly nodding. Finally, she wiped her face and looked at Hermia with a determined look, "Two years, right? I have to survive two years. I can do this."  
Hermia smiled, and led Juliette downstairs, "You can do this. Now come on, I promised to take you out."

The sisters left the house, happier than they were before. Meanwhile, Tybalt sat in his room, going over what he just heard from his younger siblings. He had to put a stop to whatever they were planning before they ruined everything.


	5. Grunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here's the Grunt family! This chapter focuses more on Ripp, but eventually I'll focus on the other three members of the family.

_130 Sim Lane, Saturday, 5:40 P.M._  
  
Ripp Grunt was still feeling giddy from yesterday. The girl he's loved since freshman year returning his feelings and a new adventure with all of his friends?  
  
Even his dad's nagging and training couldn't bother him.  
  
Speaking of his dad, he's been in a better mood ever since that red haired woman named Nina came by and helped them unpack. In fact, Ripp was pretty sure they went out on a date because Buzz had left with her for a few hours after they were done.  
  
Gross. Was his dad in love?  
Buck seemed to think so, and he seemed happy about it. Tank didn't have anything to say about it, but Ripp was pretty amused by it. Nina was nice enough, but ever since their mother died, Buzz never fell in love after that. But yet here he was, seemingly falling for the nicer and older of the Caliente sisters. He couldn't wait to see how this relationship turned out. At least, if it became one.  
  
Tomorrow, they'd probably get right back to training. Ripp and Buck weren't really into it, considering neither of them were planning on being in the military unlike Tank. They tried bringing it up to him, but he just ignored them. As usual.  
Tonight, the boys could simply relax and explore the neighborhood. Which they currently weren't doing because of laziness and because of the unfamiliar area.   
  
Buck was in the Goth household's backyard, playing with a boy named Alexander and a girl their age named Lucy Burb.  
Tank was filling out college applications downstairs, and he had been at it for about an hour. There were plenty of good colleges in the area, but he simply couldn't decide on the one he wanted to attend. Ripp didn't see any point in doing this right now, considering they weren't graduating yet.  
  
Meanwhile, Ripp himself was upstairs in his room, chatting with Lilith, Miranda, and Johnny in the group chat. Angela was out with Mary Sue, Ophelia was doing a little homework, and Juliette and Hermia were mysteriously ignoring any and all texts and calls. The rest of the group planned on speaking about their little mystery to solve, and Ripp had ~~eavesdropped~~ overheard a small conversation about it from Nina.  
___________________________________________________  
  
_L: so, next weekend. anyone busy?  
J: I'm not. Mom's taking Jill out to ballet on Saturday, and Dad's buying more Hawaiian shirts again.  
M: nah. m0m'5 talk1ng w1th gramp5  
L: why do you insist on typing like that. literally no one can understand you  
M: l3av3 m3 al0n3, l1l1th. 1m ju5t 0ut h3r3 l1v1ng my b35t l1f3  
R: Ladies, ladies, you're both beautiful. Let's just talk about Bella, yeah? I learned some things about the incident.  
J: What did you learn?  
R: Turns out Mrs. Goth had a little argument with Donnie-boy right before she went missing.  
M: b3cau53 h3 wa5 dat1ng ca55andra?  
R: I dunno. The person I heard it from only heard shouting last night, then saw the beam.  
L: i saw the beam too, but only from afar. looked like a spacecraft. it was pretty big  
J: Then maybe it really was aliens. We can confirm it next Saturday, so be sure to fill in everyone else about this.  
L: you got it.  
M: m'kay  
R: On it_  
____________________________________________________  
  
And with that, everyone logged out. Downstairs, Ripp could hear the General and Tank talking about something. Buck still wasn't home, but he was responsible enough to be home before dinner at 7, or he'd at least call and say that the Goths invited him to stay for dinner. Despite their dark appearances, Mortimer himself and Alexander personally greeted them shortly after Buzz left with Nina.  
  
Ripp leaned back against his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Pleasantview wasn't a bad place to live in, even temporarily, but it was pretty boring. Besides the alien abduction and that Don Lothario cheating on two women, there wasn't really anything else interesting happening. He could probably go out and visit the Pleasant twins or the Capps in Veronaville, but he forgot to ask them for their addresses. Besides, there's no way the General would let him drive so late despite it only being 6 o'clock.   
  
If the General didn't have them all train tomorrow.. maybe he could plan a small hangout with the teens? Veronaville and Strangetown were only 30 minutes away from Pleasantview, based on what Hermia and Angela said. They could probably hang out Downtown too.  
Ripp was torn out of his thoughts by Tank shouting at him to come down for dinner. Hopping out of his bed and sliding down the stairs, the teen stumbled into the dining room.  
  
Holy shit. That was a take out box. Buzz _never_ bought take out.  
Ripp looked to his brother for an answer, and the older boy simply shrugged, "Dad's acting weird. He let Buck stay at the Goth's house, and he said that we're free from training tomorrow morning."   
Well, it's official. Their dad was abducted and replaced by an alien look-alike. They were all doomed and-  
"Ripp. Pick your jaw up off the floor, and come eat. If not, you'll just have to watch me and your brother eat it all."   
  
Wait, nevermind. There's the Buzz he knew and avoided.  
His voice sounded so much more calmer too, and the teen didn't know whether to be nervous or happy that he wasn't yelling for once.


	6. Goth (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're back to the Goth family! We get to see Cassandra and little Alexander's sides of the story. Who's perspective would you like to see in later chapters?

_???, ?:??_  
  
The black haired woman shot up awake with a start. Where was she? It was a bright and cold place, with a sterile hospital look. Who was she? She tried picking through her memories for an explanation, but everything was blank.  
How did she get here? All she could remember was yelling and something bright.  


* * *

  
_165 Sim Lane, Saturday, 8:35 P.M._  
  
Cassandra was incredulous. It seems that nothing was going right for her anymore following her proposal.  
  
First, her mother went missing and was at her fiancé's former house before her disappearance. Don said he was unsure why she was up there, and Cassandra didn't have a reason as to why she shouldn't believe him, but.. somehow, she felt that he was lying.  
Then, after dinner and after Alexander's friends left, Mortimer had announced that Dina Caliente would be moving in with them soon. 

  
"Father, don't you find it just a _little_ strange to invite an unrelated woman very close to my age to stay with us? She has her own house, you know."  
  
"Cassandra, dear, it's fine. Dina wanted to give her sister a little space, and she'll be finding her own place soon. Now, please drop the subject. I want you and Alexander on your best behaviors when she arrives." With that, Mortimer turned to fix up a guest room and left Cassandra downstairs, leaving her to wallow in her thoughts.  
  
Mortimer sure moved on from Bella quickly, and Cassandra hated that. His wife hasn't even been gone a week, and yet here he was, with the same woman who was married to her uncle Michael before he passed away.  
What was with Dina marrying old men anyway? Sure, they deserve happiness too, but they weren't long for the world. It couldn't be that she was waiting for them to die, that'd be awful. As much as she disliked Dina, she couldn't see her doing that.  
  
Cassandra hugged herself with a sigh. She'll just have to grin and bear with this, huh? She can do that. She drew the line at Dina becoming her stepmother, however. That was way too far, and she'd let Mortimer know. Just like he did whenever Don came over.

  
Maybe she could offer Don a room here in retaliation? It's only fair, after all. He's her fiancé, and they'd eventually share this house together anyway.

  
Mind made up, the black haired woman picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number.  


* * *

  
Alexander knew his family was slowly being torn apart. He was perceptive enough to realize that. Cassandra and Mortimer smiled and told him that everything would be alright, but everything was not alright.  
  
His mother was missing, and even the army couldn't find her. Would she ever be found? It was too early to say, but the boy was slowly losing hope.  
While he was playing with the new kid and Lucy, he had gotten his mind off of it for a while, but it came back to him when Cassandra mentioned Dina Caliente.  
  
Dina.. Dina... Alexander didn't know how to feel about her. She was nice enough, but she always spoke to him in a fake, babyish voice that got on his nerves. He's young, yes, but he wasn't a baby or toddler anymore. He decided that he didn't want her staying with them.  
  
Then there was Don Lothario. His mom had went missing at his house, and he didn't even seem to care that much. He was pretty dismissive of the whole thing during his interview on the news. Bella was Don's future mother in law. One would think he'd care more about it.  
  
Guess not. Adults were tricky for some reason, and Alexander couldn't figure out why. Oh well, he had plenty of time tomorrow to figure it out. Maybe he could even ask Dina on her thoughts on the matter? He only hoped that she wouldn't brush him off as she usually did.


	7. Pleasant (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're back to the Pleasants! It's shorter this time, and we get to see Mary-Sue's POV.
> 
> How old do you think the teens are? Juliette's age was stated, and Lilith + Angela's were implied, so how about the rest?

_215 Sim Lane, Sunday, 9:30 A.M._  
  
Crappy. Crappy was one word that described the twins' weekend.  
  
When the girls came home from school on Friday, all they could hear was yelling. Before they could go inside and see what was happening, they saw their mom throwing out their dad's stuff out onto the porch, followed by their dad and the maid in their underwear.  
  
They watched as the two half-undressed adults grabbed their dad's things and marched to the maid's van, not even sparing them a glance. The sisters looked at each other, too shocked to say anything on the matter.  
  
"Angela? Lilith? Come inside, please. I need to talk to the both of you." Their mother, Mary-Sue, called from inside the house. Her voice was cold as usual, but the girls could tell that it was starting to break. That's what prompted them to finally step inside.  
  
Mary-Sue was sitting at the kitchen table, head in her hands. Lilith and Angela took a seat across from their mother, and she finally looked up at them. Her usually meticulous bun was a mess, and her exasperated expression made her look a couple of years older. After taking a deep breath and composing herself, Mary-Sue spoke, "Your father and I have decided it's time for a change of pace. He will no longer be living with us, I'm afraid."  
  
They already knew this. They could see it on their father's face as he was leaving and grabbing his stuff, "You're getting a divorce, aren't you?" Lilith asked, looking away. She wasn't really sad about it, considering how awful Daniel was to her, but she still had to know, "Was it because he was sleeping with the maid? I saw her leaving the house with him."  
  
Mary-Sue's silence indicated that she was spot on. Well, there were perks to being the ignored one. Case in point, she had accidentally heard her father and the maid going at it one day. Poor Lilith would never recover from that.  
"Your father will be staying with your Aunt Jennifer and Uncle John for the time being. You can visit him if you want to later, just let me know when you leave." With that, the woman got up from her chair and went straight to her room.  
  
"Visit him later, she says. I really don't want to see him anytime soon," Angela said, shaking her head, "He's just as bad as Don. If he was so unhappy with Mom, he could've handled the situation way better. I wonder how long this was going on."  
"Huh. I honestly expected you to defend him, considering you were his favorite. But I agree that was a shitty thing he did to Mom."  
"You and I both know that he was unfair in playing favorites. Mom was too. Besides, there's no way I'm gonna defend him for cheating." Angela stood up from the table, walking to the kitchen, "Let's not tell our friends. At least not just yet."  
Lilith found herself agreeing again, "Yeah, okay. We do have each other to vent to in the meantime. Can you make me a sandwich too? I'm starving." 

Angela nods, grabbing two more slices of bread.

* * *

Mary-Sue laid on her bed, sighing softly. Why was everything going wrong for her all of a sudden? Demoted from her job, and the love of her life cheating with the maid. What's next? Daniel tries taking custody their daughters? Actually, she probably shouldn't jinx herself like that.   
  
She had to stay strong for the girls, even with all of this stress. But first, she needed to relax. Her being such a workaholic was what drove a wedge between her and her family in the first place.  
She needed to start with making it up to Lilith for all of the neglect through the years. Both Angela and Lilith herself called her out on it once before, and she knew it wasn't one of her prouder moments.  
  
Speaking of Angela and Lilith, she hardly even noticed that they had stopped fighting with each other. No one was screaming, no hair being pulled.. when did that happen anyway? It was good that they were finally getting along, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was her and Daniel's faults?  
  
Actually, it was. They unintentionally pit them against each other, and them favoring Angela fueled the flames even more. They messed up, big time.  
Well, no more of that. She couldn't speak for Daniel, but she knew that she'd work on being a better mom to Lilith first of all.  
  
No matter what, she'd accomplish this. Even if it took sixteen more years.


	8. Caliente (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here's the Calientes again! Nina's trying to be a good older sister, but Dina's not having it.

_170 Main Street, Sunday, 1:45 P.M._  
  
Nina was in shock.  
  
Dina had just announced that she was moving out, to give her a little bit more room. She didn't mind sharing the house with Dina at all. It kept her from being lonely, and admittedly, she was worried about her younger sister.  
  
"So, wait, where are you moving to? You were never worried about me in the past, not even when you married Michael two years ago."   
Suddenly, Dina stopped packing. She slowly turned to face Nina, and smiled softly, "Never bring that man up again, 'kay? He was a horrible, horrible man who hurt me!" This was absolutely a lie on Dina's part, considering she was the rude one of the relationship, but her sister didn't need to know that, "Anyway, I'm moving in with the Goths! Mortimer graciously gave me a place to stay for a while. Isn't he just the sweetest?" She resumes packing the suitcase on her bed.  
  
Nina raised a brow at this, folding her arms, "I wouldn't really describe a fifty or sixty-something old man as 'sweet'. But it is pretty nice of him to offer you a place to stay. I could've sworn you disliked them, though."  
The blonde laughed, waving a hand dismissively, "Oh, that? No, not me, teehee! I simply _adore_ the Goths. And even though Bella is no longer with us.. I'd like to fill the void in their hearts, as a concerned friend."

  
"'No longer with us?' God, Dina. You say it like she died or something! The police are doing everything they can to find her, and they even have the army helping. She'll be fine."  
"Please, I'm thinking realistically. She could be dead by now, for all we know. By the time they find her, it'll probably be too late."  
"Too late? Do you know something about who kidnapped her? She hasn't even been gone a week, you know. She could have been kidnapped for ransom! We should tell someo-" The blonde cut her off with a glare.  
"This conversation is over, Nina. Mind your own business, and keep your trap shut. My taxi's going to be here soon, so goodbye." Dina closed her suitcase, and prepared to go downstairs. Until Nina firmly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She was getting tired of this.  
  
"No, Dina. Why do you constantly sneak around like you're doing something wrong? I'm worried about you. You never tell me anything like you used to, and you're constantly shutting me up. Please, talk to me."  
Dina paused for a moment, contemplating her words. Obviously, she couldn't tell her what she was doing behind the scenes, that'd be stupid, "You don't need to worry about me, Nina. I promise you, I'm not doing anything wrong. Now please, let me go. I'll call you as soon as I get there."  
  
Nina had a feeling Dina was lying to her. She knew when she was, but she let the younger Caliente go anyway. She'd have to deal with this another time, because she could tell Dina wouldn't tell her anything else right now.  
"...Fine, but do you promise not to get to your usual schemes? Just let them grieve in peace."  
"I promise I will."

* * *

  
_165 Sim Lane, Sunday, 2:05 P.M_  
  
Dina was home free. True to her word, she called Nina once she arrived at the mansion, but now she could probably drop her.  
  
Thanking the cab driver, Dina grabbed her bags and stepped up to the front door. She knocked, and was quickly answered by a familiar someone she didn't want to see at all.  
"...Dina. Welcome."  
"Oh, Cassandra! How _lovely_ to see you! Is Mortimer home, perhaps? I'd _love_ to thank him."  
"Father took Alexander to get fitted for a tuxedo. He asked me to show you around the house. We'll start with your room, so that you may put your stuff away." With that, Cassandra began to walk upstairs.  
  
She wouldn't even take Dina's bags! The blonde made an ugly face while Cassandra's back was turned, but followed the woman with her bags in her hand. Hm.. maybe a complaint to Mortimer would do the trick? Maybe she's acting like an evil stepmother, but hey. No one said you had to be nice to be a gold digger.  
  
One thing was for certain, however. Things were going to be a lot more different with her around.  
At least she knew Don would be here later tonight. They had much to discuss and celebrate.   
  
Even at the expense of this family.   
  
"Were you listening to me?" Cassandra's voice snapped her back to reality.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear! Could you repeat that for me?" Dina giggled innocently, but Cassandra simply blinked at her, unamused.  
"Please don't call me 'dear'. As I was saying, here are where the rooms are located. Yours is located next to father's. I'm going to let you get settled in, but you may call for me if you require anything at all." Cassandra left her be after this.  
  
Dina coughed upon entering the room. It was dusty, and it smelled a lot like mothballs. That creepy painting had to go, and she was _not_ keeping those ugly, green curtains.  
She had her work cut out for her when it came to fixing up this room, but she'd manage.  
She always did.


	9. Capp (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tell a friend the Capps are back! I know I said Tybalt was kinda mean in this story, and he is, but you'll see more of it later on.

_Capp Manor, Sunday, 3:00 P.M._  
  
Juliette and Hermia were pretty tired of Tybalt at this point.  
  
Okay, sure, he was the oldest and had to look out for them, but did he really have to force them to let him go with them to see their friends? He's never been interested in hanging out with them whenever they did ask in the past, so what changed?  
  
"Pleasantview isn't that far, Tybalt! Besides, you've _seen_ some of our friends! Miranda's going, and she's younger than all of us!" Juliette protested, glaring at her older brother.  
"I don't care. Consort told me to keep an eye on you guys. Miranda isn't going either, by the way. Not without me." Tybalt just wouldn't budge on the matter. Hermia had been watching them go back and forth for a while, and finally put in her two-cents, "But the thing is, you never cared before. You never wanted to know who they were or get to know them. You wouldn't even talk to Angela Pleasant, who's probably one of the nicest people in school. You're only watching us because Consort told you to, so you probably don't even care that much."  
  
Tybalt and Juliette jumped. They had completely forgotten about Hermia being here. She rarely ever spoke up in a discussion unless she had to, but Tybalt regained his composure, "That's not true. Just because Consort trusts me the most because I'm the oldest doesn't mean I don't care about you two."  
"You have a very funny way of showing your love and support, in that case. Sometimes, I think you were meant to be Aunt Goneril's kid, but even she's way friendlier," Juliette tossed the car keys at Hermia, grabbing her bag, "We'll be back here no later than about nine or nine-thirty."  
Sadly, Tybalt was the one who caught the keys. Juliette looked frustrated, but she let him speak, "I told you, Juliette. I'm coming with you two whether you like it or not."  
  
"Well, we don't like it. And you'd better not attack our friends if you don't like them either. We're serious this time, Tybalt. You can't just solve everything by punching something. One day, you'll punch the wrong person, and you'll get into trouble that even Consort can't save you from." Hermia got up from the couch and followed Juliette out to the car.  
  
Tybalt knew his sisters were right about him, but he was far too prideful to admit it. He couldn't help that Consort told him to be more assertive around them, and to be a protective older brother, but he knew he didn't mean it like this.  
  
He knew he took it too far as the years went by, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint when. They never expressed this much opposition until recently.

* * *

  
 _130 Sim Lane, Sunday, 3:30 P.M._  
  
Miranda and Juliette were the first to hop out of the car, since they were sitting in the backseat. Then came Hermia and Tybalt. As they were approaching, Miranda knocked on the door and quickly got a reply.  
"Juliette and Miranda. I take it Ripp invited you all?" Mr. Grunt had answered the door, and let the group in. He knew Juliette, Hermia, and Miranda the best since they came over often when the Grunts lived in Strangetown, but Tybalt was pretty much a stranger to him. Still, the girls seemed to trust him, "Everyone else is in the backyard. Try not to destroy the house while you're here." With that, the General left the house in a hurry.  
  
"Okay, so who else thinks the real General was abducted too? He was so strict in the past, and here he is, allowing Ripp to throw a party. He's not even supervising us!" Miranda said, watching him leave in confusion.  
"He wouldn't let that happen to himself," Hermia replied, inspecting the new location, "Maybe he had a change of heart? Pretty unlikely, but not impossible."  
"I'm more surprised that Tank's not complaining. Ripp definitely invited Johnny, and they pretty much despise each other." Juliette said, looking at her nails for the 5th time that day.  
"Everyone knows he wouldn't start a fight in front of Angela. No one really does." Miranda pointed out.  
Funny, considering how Angela and Lilith used to fight like cats and dogs back in freshman year.  
  
Finally, the group had made it to the backyard. Talking and exploring the new house a little had sidetracked them a bit, but they got to the backyard perfectly fine.  
There wasn't a fence around the backyard, so it was large and sprawling, but there was a small fire pit, some tables and chairs, a trampoline, and a projector and screen for movies.  
Just how much did Ripp spend on this stuff? They knew for a fact that they didn't bring a lot of this stuff from Strangetown.   
  
From the deck, they could see Tank awkwardly trying to speak to Angela normally with some success while Lilith, her boyfriend Dirk Dreamer, Ophelia, and Johnny hung out around the fire pit. They seemed to be telling some spooky stories, based on Dirk's frightened expressions. The only person missing was...  
  
 _"Hey."_ Came a voice from beside Juliette. She screamed and jumped, looking for the source. Of course, it was Ripp. He was laughing his head off while Juliette smacked him in the arm angrily, but not hard enough to actually hurt, "That wasn't funny, you jerk! I could've died of fright just now!"  
"She's right, you know." Miranda said, adjusting her shades, "It was hilarious. She should've seen her face just now! I hope someone got that on camera."  
Hermia waved her phone around, pushing back Juliette with an arm, "I did. It's in my gallery full of other funny Juliette moments. Now we have more blackmail."

  
"Real mature, guys. Embarassing your little sister and older cousin like that in front of everyone?" Tybalt finally spoke up with an annoyed look on his face. Juliette quickly straightened up and made her way to the fire pit, not even thanking her older brother, "It's fine. It's not like I don't have blackmail on _them_. Because I do, and it'd certainly be a shame if it got out, wouldn't it?"  
  
That got Ripp, Hermia, and Miranda to shut up quickly. Tybalt couldn't help but smile a little at Juliette's little moment of evil.  
This afternoon was definitely going to get more interesting as it progressed.


	10. Grunt (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party at the Grunt's house! It's probably going to get worse for the teens after this, not gonna lie. Also, if you have any suggestions for the story, please tell me! I might add them in. :)

_130 Sim Lane, Sunday, 4:05 P.M._  
  
Ripp was pretty confused at the moment, but he rolled with it as best as he could.  
  
For starters, his dad actually let him throw a party at the house. He even helped buy the supplies and set it up. In fact, the General's been acting stranger and stranger lately. Maybe there was another mystery the teens needed to solve after Bella was found.  
  
Second of all, Tank wasn't picking fights with him or Johnny. He didn't even spare a second glance at him or the alien. He was acting pretty out of character around Angela lately too.. he was absolutely teasing him later because he had a theory on why he was acting like that.  
  
Lastly, Juliette. He knew that she was a pretty mysterious girl like the rest of the Capps, and despite being her best friend for two years, there was still a lot he didn't know about her. She hardly looked at him tonight, and only showed him affection when no one else was looking. He chalked it up to her not being into PDA, but she could at least chat about something else with him. It's like she was intentionally ignoring him.  
Even Dirk spoke to him more, and they've only seen each other a few times before tonight.  
  
Now, there was that new kid who had arrived with the Capp girls. He was wearing a strange mask, and had red hair like Hermia and Juliette too. Maybe he was the elusive older brother he's heard so much about? Whoever he was, he'd give Ripp a death glare whenever he tried engaging in friendly conversation. What did he ever do to him? He almost reminded him of Tank, but way more lonerish and jerkish. Before he could get any more lost in his thoughts, he felt a tug on his arm.  
  
"Hey, me and Johnny are gonna set up the projection screen. What do you think we should play to kick it off?" Ophelia asked, holding up the box of movies. They had a lot to choose from, thanks to Blockbuster.  
"Choose anything. No horror movies right now though! We can save that for tonight, so we can actually be scared." The blonde girl nods at this, taking the box back to the group by the fire pit. It seems that they chose _Maxis Man: Origins,_ Buck's favorite movie.  
  
Now that that was dealt with, Ripp could focus on the new ki-- wait a second. Where'd he go? He was literally just on the deck watching everyone. Did he actually just lose a whole human being? He knew he was irresponsible, but not like this!  
  
"Ripp Grunt, right?" Came a voice from beside him. It was the person he was looking for, holding a can of Sprite.  
"That would be me. What's up? Is there something wrong?"  
"No, not exactly. Just curious. How do you know my sisters and cousin? They never mentioned someone with an interesting name like yours."  
"Really? I'm wounded, truly. I'll ask them about it later, but for now, I'll answer your questions. I met Juliette in our freshman year, and Hermia's sophmore year. Juliette had gotten lost while looking for her classes, and I swooped in to try and help. We actually ended up getting lost together, but I cheered her up while Hermia looked for us."  
Tybalt slowly nodded at this, beginning to understand, "And what about Miranda? She's a year younger than you all, and I know that she didn't share any classes with the sophmores."  
"It's simple! I saw her around the school occasionally, and at lunch time Juliette said that she'd be sitting with us, and no one else minded."  
  
Tybalt nodded again. Before he could ask anything else, Hermia waved him over to the large screen, "Stop badgering Ripp and get over here, Tybalt! You need to relax tonight!" With a sigh, the boy made his way over to the group. Maybe he'd get the chance to ask more questions later.  
  
From the corner of his eye, he could see Juliette approaching him, "Hey."   
"Hey yourself." She said, hugging him around the waist.  
"You've been ignoring me all night. Mind telling me why, exactly?"  
"I'm worried about you. Tybalt's pretty protective over me, and I'd hate to see him or Consort hurt you. You're not involved with my family's drama, and I don't want to drag you into it."  
Ripp pulled away from the hug, instead choosing to hold Juliette's hand, "I'm not afraid of your family, Jules. Family drama or not, I've got your back no matter what happens. Nothing's going to change that. Not drama, and definitely not a protective family." With that, he pulls her to the movie watching group.  
  
"Why'd they have to kill off his parents? They were the best part of the whole movie!" Miranda complained, throwing her hands up in anger.  
"Well, considering it's still near the beginning of the movie, they probably wanted to give him a motivation to become a superhero." Dirk explained patiently.  
"Yeah, but his parents! They were good, and loving, and everything! They did them so dirty, and I'm mad!"  
  
"So.. what's going on?" Juliette asked in amusement. Whenever Miranda was passionate about something, she lost all sense of rationale.  
"Maxis Man's parents just died to the main villain, Rex Bigbucks. Miranda loved them, and now she's upset." Hermia explained, eyes still on the screen. Ripp and Juliette sat next to her, careful not to put themselves into Tybalt's line of sight.  
"How did they die, in that case? It wasn't brutal, I hope."  
"Shot to death. They kept standing up to Rex and wouldn't sell their property. He got pissed, and had his bodyguard shoot them while Maxis Man was at work."  
"That's just awful! I'd be mad too because of that!"  
"Buck was in tears for weeks after watching that part." Ripp said, holding back a laugh, "He still hasn't gotten over it."  
"See, 'Mia? I'm not being unreasonable, because even Jules and baby Grunt agrees! How could anyone drool over this dirtbag? He's rich, but awful!"  
  
"Sometimes people like bad boys or dangerous people, so that could be it." Lilith said, sharing her bowl of popcorn with Dirk.  
"Well that's stupid! What if he shot you or your family next just because you said no to him? He's basically a manchild!"  
"Hey, I never said I was into him. I think Dr. Vu's way cooler than Rex anyway, even though I wouldn't date him. He can control the weather and more disasters, but he's kinda cuckoo."  
"Just calm down, Miranda," Tybalt finally said, tearing his eyes away from the screen, "It's not the end of the world, and he avenges them anyway."  
  
Miranda finally tired herself out from her yelling and Tybalt's scolding, and soon leaned against Angela's shoulder. She was still upset about Maxis Man's parents, but she had plenty of time to complain more tomorrow.  
Before Tybalt turned back to the movie, his eyes fell onto Ripp and Juliette's intertwined hands. He glared for a moment before looking back at the screen.  
  
One thing was for certain, however.  
Juliette was in for it when they got home tonight.


	11. Goth (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Goths are back again!  
> Let me preface this with this: I'm so sorry for hurting Alexander.

_165 Sim Lane, Sunday, 5:39 P.M._  
  
Alexander sighed as he sat on the stairs between Lucy and Buck. Cassandra and their father were fighting again, and it completely spoiled the mood of the kids' game of hide and seek.  
  
"Do they always do this, Alex?" Lucy asked, putting a comforting hand on the bespectacled boy's shoulder.  
"Not until recently, no. I think I have an idea why, though."  
"What's your idea?" Buck asked, putting a hand on his other shoulder.  
"Mother's disappearance put everyone on edge. Cassandra's acting out more by inviting Don to stay with us, and Father allowed Dina to stay over too. Possibly to fill the void in his heart."  
"But why would he do that?" Lucy asked, tilting her head, "Doesn't he think she'll come back? Bucky's dad is working hard to find her, and I believe he will!"  
"To tell you the truth, I don't know what he's thinking most of the time. I just wish that we could be a happy family again."  
  
Lucy and Buck were silent for a moment, probably thinking of ways to cheer up their friend. Eventually, they got up and pulled their friend up too.  
"Well, we can't really fix your actual family issues 'cause we're only nine, ten, and eleven.." Buck began.  
"But we can be our own little family and look out for each other! You know, like the huge friend groups the big kids have? We can do that, except for the fact we can't really leave Pleasantview without our parents." Lucy finished, smiling.  
Alexander slowly but surely smiled back his friends, nodding, "Yeah.. that'd be nice, actually. Can we get out of here for a while too, in that case? I can't listen to this yelling for another second." With that, Lucy and Buck led the boy out of the Goth house, pretending that they were "President Alexander's" bodyguards.  
  
Sure, Alexander would never truly be over the fighting in his family, but at least he had his friends to help him deal with it a little bit better.  
Even if they didn't fully understand why such things were happening anyway.

* * *

  
"I don't see why it's any more different than you letting _her_ stay with us. Don literally can't stay at his house! There's really no reason why Dina can't stay with Nina. You _know_ that I don't like her." Was it wrong and a little petty for Cassandra to talk about the blonde behind her back? Maybe, but at least she wasn't here to eavesdrop at the moment.  
Mortimer, meanwhile, was getting pretty frustrated with his daughter, "I don't see why you don't like her, Cassandra. Ms. Caliente's a nice woman, and she's willing to watch Alexander when we're both busy. You know why I dislike Mr. Lothario, however. We've been over this."  
"And he gave up his womanizing ways, see? He told me he did on the second date. If you wanted someone to watch Alex, why not hire a nanny? No offense to her, but she doesn't seem that good with kids."  
"I still think that he proposed too soon, and I don't believe that giving up his casanova ways crap either. Dina offered to do this, so I allowed her. Don can easily seduce someone else into letting him stay with them, but she's staying here and that's final, Cassandra!"  
  
Cassandra sucked in a breath, trying to hold in her anger before she said something she'd regret later. She knew that Dina was faking her sweet act. Her major in psychology wasn't for nothing, after all. At this point, she could tell that this argument would get her nowhere and decided to leave with some of her dignity, "So be it. Don will be staying here too, however. He'll be living here in the future anyway, and there's nothing you can do about it." The black haired girl turned on her heel, marching to her room.  
  
Was Mortimer being too hard on her? Possibly, but he knows he's doing it out of love and concern for her. Bella and Mortimer sheltered her as a kid, and as a result, she ended up being pretty naive.  
It's a shame she ended up as stubborn as her father, however.

* * *

  
_???, ?:??_  
  
Bella. Her name was Bella. She was 56 years old, and her favorite color was red.   
Bella also had a clone. It looked exactly like her, but it _wasn't_ her. She knew that much. The aliens had created that clone, but she couldn't remember why anymore. The clone didn't have much to say, but Bella had plenty. She spoke of things that seemed fuzzy in her mind, she spoke about the UFO they were held captive in.  
All the clone could do was smile and stare blankly in response. Still, she spoke to her. She had no one to talk to besides the other her because she and the aliens couldn't understand each other. What would they even say to each other?  
  
Sure, speaking to her clone was like speaking to a brick wall or a doll, but it kept her sane.


	12. Pleasant (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? It's more likely than you think.  
> I was typing it up today, and I decided that I might as well post it!

_215 Sim Lane, Monday, 7:50 A.M._

Angela groaned and shook her head at Lilith's teasing.

Yesterday at Ripp's house was fun! Even though Angela screamed multiple times during the horror movie. Tank Grunt even offered to walk them home! They accepted, but couldn't help but wonder why he was acting so strange around them. Then, it hit Lilith as they were eating the breakfast their mom made before she left for work.

"He likes you, Angela."  
"What?"  
"Tank Grunt. He likes you. Why else would he be so weird around you? He hardly knows me, so.."  
"Why would he like me? Besides, after becoming just friends with Dustin because we didn't think we could be together long distance.. Tank's nice enough, but I don't think I'll be dating so soon. If he can't speak to me normally, what's the point?"  
"I can respect that. Could you ever see yourself with him in the future, though?"  
"Maybe. I can't see into the future, so we'll just have to wait. Anyway, the bus should be coming soon, so.." The girls got up from the table, and put their dishes in the sink. They'd wash their dishes later, but now they were heading out of the door for school.

* * *

  
_SimCity High, Monday, 8:39 A.M._

The girls hopped off the bus with the Grunt brothers, and they could see Johnny quickly making a beeline towards the group. Tank ended up leaving just as fast.  
"Ophelia will not be joining us today. Olive's feeling sick, and she wanted to take care of her." Lilith and Ripp nodded at this, and Johnny continued, "The Capps... they won't speak to me. Not even Miranda. They left our group chat too."

"Where are they now? We need to get them to talk." Angela asked as they made their way into the school.  
"I last saw them by Miranda's locker. Come on." Johnny led the way, of course. They managed to get there in record time. Strange, considering it was nearly on the other side of the building. Sure enough, the three Capps were huddled around a locker, looking miserable. What sort of Heathers-esque hell did they just step out of? The trio was wearing matching blazers and skirts, each in their favorite colors. Blue for Juliette, purple for Hermia, and orange for Miranda.

The girls quieted down as they saw their former friends approach. They even turned around for good measure. Angela, Lilith, Johnny, and Ripp were also quiet, before Lilith finally broke the ice, "Why? Why are you guys starting to push us away? And why are you dressing like that? Just last night, we were all having a ball and sharing laughs, but now you're snubbing us?" She wasn't furious, no, but she was pretty upset.

"...Grandfather decided it was best for us to dress more professionally. And that we should start thinking to the future. Considering I graduate this year, and Juliette graduates next year.." Hermia trailed off in an uncharacteristically monotone and almost robotic voice.

"But this isn't _you._ Hermia, you're calm and collected, but you already know what you want to do. Miranda is laidback and chill, and she's only a sophomore. She doesn't need to worry about that now. Juliette is friendly and assertive, and she _also_ knows what she wants to do. Weren't you all the ones who promoted individuality because you felt like you were being stifled?" Lilith pressed, stepping closer to the girls.  
It was Miranda who spoke next, "You all wouldn't understand. You don't know how the Capps can be, and what they're willing to do. Haven't you wondered why Romeo Monty and Mercutio Monty transferred out of this school?" No one answered, so Miranda continued, "We don't want you getting hurt too. We know you all don't want or need to be protected, but it's better if we go along with it. Just in case."

  
"That being said, we can attempt to sneak out and see you all." Juliette said, fixing her skirt, "We can't promise it, though. Tybalt's gone on a power trip and we doubt he'd let us go that easily. But.. we haven't blocked or deleted your numbers, if that's what you're wondering. We'll also still try and sneak out to Strangetown with you guys, but we can't stay over."

The teens could tell that the Capps' hands were tied at the moment, but they agreed nonetheless. It sucked that they couldn't see them as much anymore, but they'd have to adapt to it, and fill in Ophelia later.

They had a feeling that Tybalt had a part to play in this, based on his actions last night and what Juliette said, but they weren't sure.  
Nothing left to do but deal with it for the moment.

* * *

_SimCity Park, Monday, 2:40 P.M._

Lilith and Ripp hung upside down from the monkey bars, clearly in the middle of a competition.  
Angela and Tank were watching Johnny play a game on his laptop, offering some advice while doing so.

The ~~Heathers~~ Capps approached the group, no mean older brothers in sight. Miranda immediately joined the little monkey bar contest being held, uniform be damned. Hermia watched them so she could make sure they didn't accidentally get themselves killed.

Juliette joined Angela, Tank, and Johnny at the picnic tables, watching from over Angela's shoulder.  
"I thought that you all weren't supposed to interact with us. What are you doing here?" Johnny asked, eyes still glued to the screen.  
"We told Consort that we wanted to go shopping right after school. He allowed us to go, and made Tybalt leave us be. We're still planning on going shopping, but they're not expecting us home for hours."  
"Oh, can I join you three?" Angela asked, looking back at Juliette, "I need to get a dress for the Homecoming dance. I want to get a pretty one before they're sold out."  
"You can, but the dance isn't for another two months, you know." Angela simply shrugged in response.

They had stayed silent after that, until Johnny won his computer game and Lilith and Ripp lost the monkey bar competition to Miranda. Now, they were all just hanging out on the jungle gym, since the elementary kids didn't come all the way out here for the playset.  
"So, any plans for the rest of the week?" Hermia asked, dangling her legs next to the pole.  
"I'm joining the gaming club or something." Miranda said, shoving Lilith down the slide after said girl shouted 'Weeb!' at her.  
"I'm signing up for cheerleading. I've been practicing the routines all summer, and I think I've got it down." Angela said, looking up from a text from Dustin Landgraab-Broke (It was a long story).

The teens chatted like that for about an hour before the Capps, Angela, and Lilith decided to leave and go shopping. Johnny went to go bring Ophelia her homework for today, and Ripp and Tank simply went home.

Things were changing, and a little too fast for their tastes. They only hoped that things wouldn't change too much for them all.


	13. Caliente (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep!  
> I can finally balance Nina and Dina's P.O.V.S!  
> It should be obvious who Nina's mystery crush is, but she's not confessing to them anytime soon.
> 
> Also, please keep the kids away frm the snake, thank you.

_170 Main Street, Monday, 3:10 P.M._  
  
Contrary to popular belief, living alone wasn't that bad honestly.  
  
At least, that's what Nina thought. She didn't have to wait for Dina to get out of the bathroom in the morning, and she didn't have to share her hair brushes or clothes anymore either. Even though Nina was only 28 and Dina was 25, it felt like the older woman was taking care of a small child. Maybe even a toddler.  
  
She could finally get a pet too! Dina never really cared for pets, mostly because they shed too much for her likings, but Nina loved them. Maybe she'd get a dog, or a cat? Or she could go smaller and get a hamster, maybe even a bird? She'd figure it out eventually. There was no one to kick them out for no reason.  
  
Putting her living situation aside, the redhead hadn't heard from Don in a while. She checked her messages and missed calls multiple times, but he hadn't contacted her since last Wednesday. Surprisingly, it didn't upset her as much as she thought it would.  
Was she getting over Don? It felt like it, and she was almost relieved. Everyone knew he was a womanizer, and seemed to favor her younger sister over her anyway, and it almost made sense as to why.  
  
She shook her head. No point in comparing herself to her sister. They were hardly alike growing up, and they still weren't as adults.  
If Don didn't want to be with her, so be it. She wouldn't make him stay, especially if she couldn't love him either. She had her eye on someone else these days anyway, but he at least deserved a proper break-up. She picks up her cell and dials a familiar number, getting an answer after the 1st ring.  
  
_"Nina, baby! Long time no see. What's up? Did you want to meet up or something?"  
"_Yes, I need to tell you something important. Meet me Downtown tonight."  
_"You got it, darling. Any place in particular?"_  
"How does Bernard's Botanical Dining sound? I hear their food's good."  
_"If that's where you want to go, then that's where I want to go too."_  
"Good, good. I'll see you at five."  


* * *

  
_165 Sim Lane, Monday, 3:30 P.M._  
  
Dina was getting pretty pissed off at everything, even if it didn't concern her.  
  
First, Don completely ignored her offer in favor of wedding planning with Cassandra. If Dina didn't know any better, she'd think he was actually in love with the Goth heiress. Which would just be silly, at least to Dina.  
  
Mortimer also rejected her offers. He was perfectly compliant the day she asked to move in with him, but now he was treating her as simply a business partner! Maybe she should've gone for Daniel... then again, he got caught like the fool he is.  
  
Alexander didn't want anything to do with her either. She tried playing the perfect stepmother, but he just regarded her cooly before running off with his little friends. What was his problem with her anyway? It's not like she killed his goldfish.  
  
Whatever. She'd just have to try harder. It was so much easier seducing Michael. Probably because he didn't have family living nearby. It sure would've helped in the pool ladder incident.  
It wasn't Dina's fault that she was so clumsy, right? It was a total accident! Besides, the police took her side anyway. A few words here, a few implications there.. and Mr. Bachelor was a horrible husband who had it coming.  
She was content with just that money and Nina's questions, until Don from college called her up and told her about Mortimer. How could she refuse?  
If the police questioned her again, she could easily pin it on Don. He came up with it, he put the idea in her mind, he forced her to do it!  
  
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a slamming of the door, and multiple tiny footsteps. Alexander was home, and he brought his friends again. Lainey and Bruce, right?  
"Alexander, dear! Please come down here!" The footsteps stopped. She could hear Alexander say something, and then another door slammed. Now, he was coming down.  
"Miss Caliente? What did you need?" He asked, stopping to fix his glasses.  
"Please, dear! Call me Dina. Do you want me to bring up a few snacks for you and your friends?"  
"...That would be lovely. Thank you, Miss Caliente." Without another word, the ten year old turned on his foot and went back upstairs.  
  
Dina could feel her eye twitching, but she prepared the snacks without much trouble.  
This would be worth it in the end. She just had to hold out just a little bit longer.  
  
The blonde balanced a tray of juice, sandwiches, and cookies in her hands. Thank god for her taking up a serving job all of those years ago.  
She left the tray in the room for the kids, leaving after hearing a 'Thank you, Miss Caliente' from the three of them.  
  
How did Mortimer manage all of these years? She'd never know the answer to that...  
But she did know Mortimer was home by now. She _would_ get into his good graces today.  
  
All she needed was some more wine and some music to fit the mood. Thank god the kids were too wrapped up in their game to notice.


	14. Capp (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betcha weren't expecting a Miranda-centric chapter, were you? Desdemona, Hal, Ariel, and Jill (briefly) makes an appearance!  
> The Beau mentioned is indeed Beau Broke, why he's living in Champs Les Sims will be explained later, though you could probably figure it out on your own.
> 
> What if I made a spinoff focusing on the kids?

_7 Chorus Court, Monday, 3:40 P.M._

  
Surprisingly, Miranda wasn't doing too badly. Sure, her parents were kinda being asses, but she blamed it on Consort.

She had to wear this dumb school uniform-like outfit whenever she went out in public, like her cousins. What was up with that anyway? Sure, it made them look professional, but it wasn't like they walked around half naked. Her mom and dad wouldn't tell her, and her younger siblings obviously didn't know. Life was tough for the 15 year old.

At the moment Miranda was watching some cartoons on TV while her younger siblings, Hal and Desdemona, did their homework at the dining table. She had just finished emailing her longtime pen pal, a boy her age named Rick Contrary. He lived in a place across the country named Desiderata Valley, and they had 'met' when they were in 5th grade and doing this project. Though they've never met each other in person, they considered each other close friends and planned on officially meeting up when they graduated in two years.

"Hey, Boogerface! Come help us with these letters!" Hal called from the dining room.  
"Try asking me a little bit nicer next time, Ratboy!" Miranda replied, making her way to the table.  
"Yeah, Ratboy, try asking nicely!" Desdemona piped up, waving her fairy wand at him.  
"I think I have amnesia. I don't remember asking for _your_ opinion, Fairy Snotmother." Hal shot back. Before Desdemona could reply, Miranda sat herself in between them.

"Alright, save the head biting for later. What's your assignment about?"  
"Pen Pals! It's for the whole year." Desdemona said, waving her paper around, "We have to write to kids who live in the local towns, or somewhere farther. Like... Belladonna Cove! Or Champ Les Sims! Even the Simaican Isles! I actually did get someone from Champs Les Sims. His name's Beau, isn't that romantic?"  
Hal snorted at this, "What do you know about romance? You're only ten. Me, I'm writing to someone in Pleasantview named Alexander. Boogerface could probably take me to meet him sometime ."

"Says who? I haven't even started Driver's Ed yet. But anyway.. I did this when I was your age too. You should start your letters with your name and where you live!" The kids nodded and began to write according to her advice, "Then, you should probably tell them about your family, and see if you have any similarities. Lastly, ask them about what they like to do. You want to leave some questions for them to ask too."

Soon, the only sound in the air was the sound of pencils scratching and erasers being rubbed against paper. It was kinda peaceful, ignoring the fact it sounded like they were taking a super important test. About ten minutes later, the kids finished their letters and packed them away.

"I wonder what Beau's like? Is he super romantic like the French are? Ah, what if we get to meet someday? I hope he does the kissy thing!" Desdemona was fantasizing again, as she usually did. It was nice to see that she still had an active imagination, but she could be pretty weird.  
"Slow down, Fairy Snotmother." Miranda said, patting the girl's head, "He'll probably think you have cooties or something if you say stuff like that."  
"I mean, she probably does have cooties! She's always got those dumb fairy wings on and she's always pretending that she is one." That earned Hal a smack on the head from Desdemona.

"You're all just jealous that I finally found a person to rule the fairy kingdom with me! Anyway, can you take us out to the park, Boogerface? We finished our homework and everything!"  
"Eh, why not? It's not that far, and there's probably some other kids there at the moment. Just let me grab Ariel and call Mom and Dad first."

The kids cheered and rushed to the door to put their shoes on, and waited for their other sisters to get downstairs.  
It was a ten minute walk to the playground, and there were plenty of kids present. Miranda sat on the bench with Ariel as Hal and Desdemona ran off to play. It seems that they joined a game of tag with a tall black haired boy wearing glasses, a short brunette girl wearing a yellow dress, and a chubby blonde haired boy wearing flip-flops.

Miranda looked away from them to focus on a babbling Ariel for a moment. The toddler reached for the teen's shades, and so she handed them over.

  
"Mira! Is that you?" The blonde heard a familiar voice call out, so she looked up to see a familiar redhead jogging towards her.  
"Oh, hey Angie! What brings you to the park?"  
"Babysitting my cousin Lucy and her friends for a while," Angela pointed at the little girl in the yellow dress, "Lilith went to buy ice cream for them."  
Miranda nodded in understanding, "My brother and sister asked to go to the park, so here we are. Mom and Dad weren't home yet, so it fell to me."  
"I'm guessing your siblings are the fairy and sleeveless kid, right?"  
"Bingo. Their names are Desdemona and Hal. This little lady here is Ariel, the youngest." Upon hearing her name, Ariel took the sunglasses out of her mouth, and gave Angela a two-teeth smile.

The girls chatted for a while, and were soon joined by Lilith with the ice cream, Johnny, and his little sister Jill. The blond boy seemed happy to see her.

  
All in all, it wasn't a horrible day for once.  
This morning didn't count, at least for now.


	15. Grunt (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 15! Give it up for chapter 15! I'm actually pretty happy with the story so far, and it might just be a long one.
> 
> We finally get to see how Buck and Tank are doing. Buck's doing fine, Tank... not so much.

_130 Sim Lane, Monday, 5:05 P.M._  
  
Life was going pretty great for Buck Grunt today.  
  
He had started a Pen Pal letter for school, and he was pretty excited to send it off and get a reply starting tomorrow from some kid named Benedick. He chose Veronaville as his place of interest, mostly because he was interested in knowing why there were only three families who lived there, including some of Ripp and possibly Tank's friends.  
  
Also, he had made new friends at the park! Their names were Hal and Desdemona Capp, and he was pretty interested in hanging out with them again, along with his best friend Jill, who also showed up. Desdemona was a pretty imaginative girl who had big ideas, while Hal chipped in and made those ideas reality. Maybe they'd be interested in being in the President's Bodyguards?  
  
Another thing was the fact that his father was actually paying attention to him and Ripp lately. He seemed genuinely interested in what they were doing, even if it came off as a little awkward sometimes. Buck could tell he was trying his best, but he couldn't help but wonder what sparked this change.  
  
That red haired woman, Nina Caliente, didn't come over that day and he was kinda saddened by that. Whenever she would visit, she took a little time to play a quick game of chess with him. She wasn't the best at it, but it had become tradition pretty quickly. Yeah, Buck liked her a lot. She couldn't replace his actual mom, but he was slowly coming to think of her as a mother-figure.  
  
The blonde jumped as he heard a knock on the door. Grabbing a chair, he peeked through the peephole. It was Alexander and Lucy, so he let them in.  
"Hey guys, what brings you here?" Buck asked, pushing the chair back where it belongs.  
"Cassandra and Mortimer are fighting again." Lucy replied, scrunching up her nose.  
"About Dina, as usual. I sort of hate her, to tell you the truth. I know it's wrong to blame her for this, but I can't help but wonder if it'd would have been better if she hadn't come at all." Alexander sighed gloomily, and adjusted his glasses as usual.  
  
Buck couldn't do much about the Dina thing, but he could probably try to make his friend feel better. An idea came to him, and he grinned, "Guys, let's build a pillow fort."  
Lucy's eyes twinkled at this, and Alexander perked up a bit.  
"It can be our official base or something," Buck continued on with his explanation, "Sure, we'd have to take it down eventually, but it could be fun!"  
"Oh, I know a better place for a base! There's a shed in my backyard that no one uses, so we could clear it out and use that!" Lucy said cheerfully, "I'd still like to build that pillow fort though!"  
Alexander nodded, "Agreed. Let's get started."  
  
With that, the children ran about the house, grabbing any pillows and blankets they could. They even managed to get Tank to give up some things!   
This would be the best pillow fort ever.  


* * *

  
_130 Sim Lane, Monday, 5:15 P.M._  
  
Tank Grunt groaned underneath a pile of blankets and pillows on his bed as the children ran around downstairs loudly. He really didn't want to spoil their fun.  
  
It wasn't like him to brood like this, but he had to get it out somehow. He didn't have many friends (if any) he could call his own, so he couldn't really vent to anyone. Ripp was the popular one of the two, and he almost laughed at that. It was _his_ dream to be as popular, just like their dad. He usually stuck to tagging along with Ripp and his friends sometimes, and they didn't seem to mind his presence. At least, that's what it seemed like.  
He even tried getting along with Johnny Smith these days, and it seemed to work. They wouldn't be calling each other BFFs anytime soon, but they could at least tolerate each other and not fight whenever they saw each other.  
  
Then there was Angela Pleasant. Pretty, popular, Angela. She was in Ripp's friend group, and he couldn't help but feel awkward around her despite knowing her for two years at this point. If you asked him why, he wouldn't be able to tell you the reason.  
He felt hot, clammy, and weak around her, and it was embarassing to be so wimpy because of some girl. He couldn't speak to her properly anymore without messing up his words or going red in the face, so she probably only thought of him as Ripp's weird and socially awkward older brother.  
Why did he feel this way? She was still just Angela Pleasant. The same Angela Pleasant who had been trying to get to know him better since freshman year, and he only started noticing how pretty she was just recently. He could ask the 'casanova' of the house, but he already knew Ripp would tease him relentlessly.  
  
He couldn't imagine himself as laid-back as his brothers, but he did wonder if it would make him seem more charismatic, approachable, and popular. Maybe he'd try it out tomorrow? Just relax a little for once in his time.  
Besides, he was getting pretty tired of Lilith Pleasant and Miranda Capp mocking him. As far as he knew, he didn't do anything wrong... except he always yelled at them for running in the hall. What? He couldn't exactly bend the school rules for them, but he did always end up not giving them detention.  
  
He already knew how unlikeable he could be, hall monitor duties aside, and he didn't really need a reminder of that. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day he'd try being cool. God, he sounded like a teenage girl right now with his desperate need of popularity.  
He hoped _that_ wouldn't get him teased by the girls. He wouldn't show it on his face considering how stoic he was, but it usually made him pretty upset. Kinda cliche, huh? Well, stifling his emotions was something he forced himself to do as a kid after their mom went missing. He wanted to come off as strong to his younger brother, but all it did was make him come off as a complete jerk.  
The General didn't even comment on it back then.  
  
Tank supposed he could start removing his dumb face paint and start working from there. It'd feel weird not being in camo anymore, but this was a necessary evil to him.  
Internally, he couldn't help but wonder if it stained his face after all of these years. He shudders at the possible-yet-extremely-silly thought. He didn't dislike them anymore, but he drew the line at actually _looking_ like an alien.  
  
He could also work on being a little bit friendlier too, even possibly make some official friends. The teen finally got up from his blanket mountain, and began marching towards the bathroom with determination in his eyes. What? He wasn't gonna give up _all_ of his army stuff, and since they haven't been training in a while (despite their ability to do it themselves), he decided this was the best way.  
 _"I don't know but I've been told,"_ The boy began softly, _"All of that camo's got to go."_


	16. Goth (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for hurting Alexander so much.  
> I love him, I really do, but this family drama was bound to take a toll on him eventually.

_165 Sim Lane, Monday, 6:00 P.M._  
  
Alexander's day became slightly better after visiting Buck's with Lucy. They just had that effect on him. Sadly, good things could never stay good for him, it seems.

  
After helping Buck clean up his living room and escorting Lucy home, Alexander walked to his own home.  
It was surprisingly pretty quiet when he got in, aside from a few whispers here and there. Of course, being a ten year old, he was curious as to where they were coming from.  
  
He poked his head into the dining room, seeing Cassandra and Don sitting there, whispering about something. Their backs were facing him, and he could see that Don had his hand over Cassandra's. This is the first time he had seen Cassandra happy ever since their mom disappeared, so he let them be. He didn't have much of a opinion on Don, but he could see that he cared for Cassandra. That's all that mattered to Alexander.  
  
Now, he was slowly making his way up the stairs slowly so that he didn't trip and fall. He wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited him there.  
His father and Dina were standing by his (Mortimer's) room.  
Dina was pressed against his father. They were kissing. He could hear the gross smacks from where he was standing.  
He wanted to look away, but he couldn't move a muscle.  
  
Finally, when they moved into Mortimer's room, Alexander snapped out of his trance and ran downstairs, knocking a few things over in his path. He ran to the backyard, and to the telescope that he had moved from the balcony. For now, he was simply sitting by it, hugging his knees and breathing heavily. He couldn't do this right now.   
She wasn't here, but Mortimer was cheating on his wife with Dina. They were supposed to be madly in love, so why was he doing this? What would happen when his mom came back? ...If she came back?  
  
Alexander pulled off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't cry. Not when Cassandra was nearby. He didn't want them to start up another fight.   
He wouldn't tell Lucy or Buck either. They wouldn't be able to help him any more than they already have.  
  
For once, Alexander Goth was at a loss. He could feel the weight of everything crashing down on him.  


* * *

  
Cassandra and Don watched Alexander run out of the house in a rush. What was up with him lately?  
Of course, Cassandra went outside to get him. Don simply waited in the house, since he didn't really know how to comfort a kid.  
  
The black haired woman saw her little brother sitting by the telescope their mother had gotten him for his tenth birthday this year. His glasses were sitting by him, and his arms were covering his face.  
She crouched down in front of the boy, watching him carefully, "Alex. What's wrong?"  
  
The boy jumped. Upon seeing Cassandra in front of him, he shoved his glasses back on his face and got up, "Nothing, Cass! I'm just thinking." Cassandra pulled him back down next to her, shaking her head.  
"Nice try. I know when you're upset and hurt. You don't need to give me the full story, but at least tell me half of it. I want to make you feel better."  
  
Alexander sighed, resigned. He rested his head against Cassandra's shoulder, and hugged her. It's been a while since they've shown each other much affection.  
"I doubt that you could make me feel better, but.. I can't stop thinking about Mom. She's only been gone for a while, but still."  
Cassandra knew how he felt. Bella had been with her her whole life, and now she probably wouldn't be able to attend her wedding. See Alexander go to high school. See Alexander go to college.  
"I get it. I really do. I miss her a lot myself."  
"Do you think she'll ever come back, Cass?"  
"Of course!" Actually, she wasn't so sure. The army had no leads to go off of that didn't end in a dead end, "Mom wouldn't let a bunch of aliens keep her for long."  
  
"What if they don't find her, Cass? Or what if they do, and she's dead?"  
"Alex!" Cassandra looked at her brother in horror. Why would he say something like that?  
"I'm being realistic! If it was aliens, then she could be dead from their so called experiments! If it were something else, she could be in a ditch somewhere!" Alexander paused, and he slowly looked up at Cassandra.  
  
"You've never thought these things before, Alexander. How did you come up with something like this?"  
"I.. um.." The boy looked like a deer caught in headlights. Maybe she shouldn't push so hard? He wouldn't answer in this state.  
"Look, Alexander. It's just a little strange for someone your age to be thinking so cynically. Now, how about we go back inside? We can eat dinner, you can wash up, and I'll put you to be-"  
  
Alexander looked as pale as a ghost, and shook his head, "No! Let's watch a movie before I go to sleep! There's still sunlight in the sky, see?" Cassandra raised a brow, but she agreed anyway. Don joined their little dinner and movie night too, surprisingly. He was telling jokes about the films, which kept Cassandra and Alexander laughing most of the night.  
  
Mortimer and Dina were still missing, but no one downstairs seemed to care much. They couldn't even hear the creaking of the bed upstairs over their movie and jokes.  
It was for the best, really.

* * *

  
???, ?:??  
  
The clone could finally speak a little, thanks to Bella's constant conversation. She could say basic things, such as 'Hello', 'Goodbye', and 'Yes'.  
She learned things pretty quickly too! Bella didn't really understand the significance of this, but the aliens did.  
  
Well, at least her conversation partner could finally react to her small stories. Speaking of stories, she could vaguely piece together more small fragments of her memories at the moment.  
She had been married once, judging by the ring on her finger. She could also remember having two children, and boy and a girl. Sadly, she couldn't remember their appearances or their ages. They must've been adults by now, judging by her age.  
  
She wondered if they were thinking of her. Even though they were fuzzy in her head, she tried to think of them. It made her head pound, but she pressed on.


	17. Pleasant (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Ophelia finally get screentime! I've been neglecting them, sadly.  
> Ripp's also back from the dead!
> 
> Tank and Angela are getting close, it seems.

_SimCity High, Tuesday, 9:01 A.M._  
  
Today was shaping up to be a pretty interesting morning for the twins, but there wasn't anything wrong with that for once. Besides the whole divorce between their parents still being sorted out, their week was surprisingly pleasant.  
  
First of all, their mother offered to take them out for dinner tonight. Maybe it was because she wasn't the best chef, or maybe she just wanted to hang out with the girls. Either way, they did agree to it. It's been a while since they've done anything with their mom or their dad for that matter.  
  
Second of all, the Capps wouldn't be coming in today. Hermia texted everyone to tell them that they had to get ready for some sort of gala or ball happening downtown later tonight, and they'd have to get ready all day. Sure, the Capps were pretty well off, but you'd hear more about the Landgraab family attending one, considering they're practically celebrities. Hell, the tabloids were still talking about how Malcolm Landgraab IV was happily married to the poor and widowed Brandi Broke two years ago and became a stepfather of three.  
Most of the rich families were to attend the get together, and they were raising money for something, but not even Hermia knew what just yet. Interestingly, the Goths were meant to attend, but they declined for some odd reason.  
  
Finally, this one was a bit more recent! In fact, it was sitting right next to Angela on the bus this morning, thanks to Lilith and Ripp. Yep, Tank Grunt was a changed man, mostly. He didn't have that camo face paint on anymore, and he didn't dress up like he was in boot camp. He could hold a proper conversation with Angela without stuttering too. (He still looked a little red, though)  
  
Lilith and Ripp were pretty amused by it, truth be told. It was nice that he changed up his look for once, but they didn't think he'd change so drastically.  
Angela was more torn on the matter. On one hand, it was nice to see him being a bit more open and talkative with her. On the other, she didn't think he needed to get rid of all of his camo. It made him look different from everyone else, and she sort of liked that.  
Oh well. He seemed happy with it, and because she didn't want to hurt his feelings somehow, she kept it to herself.  
  
The four teens hopped off the bus, and were greeted by Ophelia and Johnny. Lilith and Ripp were whisked away by the two, and that just left Tank and Angela to head to class with each other.  
"Well, that was interesting. Should we get to class then? I'm sure they'll catch up later." Angela asked, looking up at the taller boy.  
"Uh, yeah. I can walk you to class, if you want?" The redhead nodded in approval, and they were on their way.  
  
The walk was short and pretty quiet since Angela's first class was close to the entrance. Class started at 9:30 and they had plenty of time to kill since it was 9:05, so when Tank turned to leave, Angela stopped him by lightly tugging on his shirt sleeve.  
"Wait. Why don't we hang out for a bit? Class doesn't start yet, and we don't really chat too much." Without waiting for a reply, the girl pulls him into her classroom. There were already a few bags sitting on the desks and floor, and there were a few students milling about too. Angela pulled Tank to a corner and invited him to sit.  
  
"So.. what did you want to talk about?" Tank asked, resting his head on his hand. No, he wasn't good at starting conversations.  
"Anything really," Angela replied, leaning back a little, "I'm really curious about the sudden change in fashion though."  
"Just decided it was time for a little change."  
"You got rid of the facepaint. It's nice to actually see your face, but I'm too used to the paint."  
"Didn't you think it was a little.. I dunno, silly? I've worn it since freshman year."  
"Maybe I did once, but it kinda works for you."  
  
Tank went silent for a moment, so Angela changed the subject a little, "You know, you haven't started stuttering yet. I'm kinda surprised, to tell you the truth."  
"I've become more comfortable around you, that's all."  
"Oh, so I made you uncomfortable in the past?" The redhead smirked a little as Tank began to backtrack his previous statement.  
"Not like that. I've never really held conversations in the past, as you know. Ripp's the chatty brother, and I'm the loner. I wanted to fit in with you guys for once."  
"You don't have to change yourself to hang with us. We'd all be happy to hang out with you, just say the word! I'm usually free to chat," With that, Angela scribbled her number onto a piece of paper and handed it to him, "Here. Text me tonight, okay?"  
  
With that, the first school bell rang and Tank scrambled to get to his own class.

* * *

  
_SimCity Park, Tuesday, 2:40 P.M._  
  
Like yesterday, Lilith and Ripp were having a competition on the monkey bars. Ophelia and Johnny watched them from the swings, amused.  
"Just give it up, Ripp! You're going down!"  
"I disagree, Lilith. It's you who's going down! Before Miranda joined us yesterday, I was totally in the lead!"  
"Keep dreaming! _I_ was in the lead!"  
  
Ophelia and Johnny looked at each other as their friends bickered, shaking their heads.  
"I bet they're going to kill each other someday."  
"Oh, totally." The two turned back to the monkey bars after hearing two loud thuds. Lilith and Ripp were both on the ground, groaning. Their faces were red, as if they had been blushing.  
  
"...So, have you both agreed to never do this again?" Ophelia asked, raising a brow. She loved Ripp and Lilith, but she had to admit that they did dumb stuff sometimes. Scratch that, they did dumb stuff all the time.   
"Maybe we won't do the monkey bars again.." Lilith said, rubbing her back.  
"But we're not going to stop competing! Adds spice to our lives, y'know?" Ripp continued, still laying on the ground.  
  
Johnny rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway, "You know, you're going to get yourselves killed someday."  
"Hey, if we're dead we can't get ourselves killed again!" Lilith laughed.  
"Well, if you two die, who's gonna replace you two?" Ophelia asked, folding her arms.  
"No one. We'd still hang out with you two if we were ghosts."  
"Yeah? Me, Miranda, and Johnny kinda prefer you guys alive. Easier to do stuff with living people, and people won't look twice at us." With that, both Johnny and Ophelia joined their friends on the ground. They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence.  
  
"So, has anyone heard anything else about Don lately?" Johnny asked, looking at his friends.  
"Yeah. He's marrying Cassandra Goth." Ripp said, pulling up some grass from the ground, "Buck mentioned it once. He only knows that because he's friends with Cassandra's little brother, Alexander."  
"Does he know anything about Dina then?"  
"I'm not sure if _he_ knows. I did hear from her sister, though. She said that Dina moved in with the Goths because she needed a place to stay."  
"Why couldn't she stay with Nina then?" Lilith asked, raising a brow.  
"Wanted to give her space, or something. Nina wasn't too upset about it. She actually seemed pretty happy."  
"Dina's that bad, huh? I wonder how she convinced Mortimer to let her stay."  
  
"I dunno, but we should fill everyone else in when we get the chance to. For now, I'm gonna look for Tank so we can actually go home." Ripp got up from his place on the ground, stretching.  
"Can I come with you? I need to find Angela, 'cause mom's taking us out to eat downtown tonight." The boy nodded, and the two of them waved goodbye to Johnny and Ophelia. Seems like they were planning on staying a while longer.  
  
Now, the search for their siblings had begun.


	18. Caliente (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina and Buck get to bond a little in this chapter, and Dina and Mortimer get a little closer. I don't think Alexander or Cassandra would want to hear about Mortimer and Dina getting together ever.
> 
> Also, tomorrow's my birthday! I'll probably post more chapters later today.

_170 Main Street, Tuesday, 3:00 P.M._  
  
Nina Caliente was officially single, and she was feeling good about it too!  
  
When she met up with Don for dinner last night, she told him straight up that she wanted to break up. Don didn't seem upset about it either, but who knows? They had agreed to stay friends after this, especially considering they knew each other since they were in high school. He promised to stay in contact, but she somehow doubted that.  
  
At the moment, Nina was visiting the Grunts at their house... Okay, so maybe she was babysitting Buck. Buzz had asked her because he would be working late tonight, and Tank and Ripp were out visiting friends. She didn't mind, however. Buck was a nice kid, and he was always well behaved.  
As usual whenever she came over, they were playing a game of chess. Nina never really played it, but how could she say no to Buck?  
  
It was a pretty close match this time around, but the blond boy had won this time around. She politely clapped for his victory, smiling, "You did good, as usual. Maybe you could be a pro someday?"  
"You did good this time too! I like chess and all, but it's just a hobby. I'd rather be a pet stylist to the stars!"  
"Pet stylist to the stars, huh? What's your favorite type of pet then?"  
"Dogs, definitely. They could probably keep up with all of us easier."  
"Oh yeah? I was thinking about adopting one myself. I'm an animal lover just like you, actually. Of course, there's a whole bunch of other pets I could adopt as well."  
"Get a dog. Please. They're the best."  
  
Nina couldn't help but laugh. She'd definitely think about it, but she couldn't guarantee anything just yet.  
After that little conversation, Buck showed her a letter from his Pen Pal, a boy from Veronavilla named Benedick Monty.   
Veronavilla.. wasn't that the town with a lot of drama in it? She'd think about it later. For now, she would just listen to Buck talk about what he learned about Benedick.  


* * *

_165 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 3:59 P.M._  
  
Dina Caliente was over the moon that day, and not even Cassandra could ruin her mood. Probably.  
  
She had finally got with Mortimer last night, and that morning he asked her to be his lover. How could she refuse?  
So now, while Don and Cassandra were out on a date and Alexander was in the backyard with his telescope, Dina was on the couch and cuddling with Mortimer.  
  
Speaking of Alexander, he was ignoring her more than usual. No matter what she did or said, he wouldn't reply. When he thought no one was looking, he looked at his father and herself with a sad expression.  
What was his problem with her anyway? It's not like she was doing anything wrong, right?  
  
She sighed, curling into Mortimer's side, "Morty, we should tell them about us."  
"Why?" He asked, looking down at her. His lips were pursed, but he didn't look angry or upset.  
"Well, if they catch us together, won't they be curious?"  
"Perhaps. But if we're careful, they won't see us together."  
"Why don't you want to tell them?"  
"What would it look like to them if we revealed that we were together shortly after Bella disappeared? What would the public think?"  
  
Dina fell silent, knowing that he was right. He sighed, stroking her cheek softly, "One day we will, Dina. But not today, or anytime soon."  
She was still silent while he did this, and soon enough he stopped, "What if I took you out for dinner tonight to make it up to you?"  
She looks up at him, pouting, "And a fancy gift too?"  
"If that's what you want, yes."  
  
Dina hurriedly got up from the couch. Her mood had made a complete 180°, and it almost mad Mortimer's head spin. He almost regretted offering this, "Well? Let's get going before it gets dark out!"  
  
Just what did the elder get himself into? He was in too deep at this point, and he couldn't (or didn't want to) see a way out. He almost regretted cheating on Bella, and he almost regretted hooking up with Dina.  
Truth be told, he didn't think Bella would come back and either did the blonde, and that was fine by her. She had been angry when Don said that he didn't get to dump Bella somewhere abandoned, but had calmed down when he told her aliens had gotten to her.  
That was Dina's backup plan, after all. They couldn't be charged with kidnapping if they didn't actually kidnap her.  
  
Dina always carefully covered her tracks, even when it came to actually contacting the aliens. That was a secret for herself alone.  
The next step wouldn't be until next month, but Dina was slowly starting to convince Don and Cassandra to move up the date.  
  
After all, someone else in this household could be abducted next.


	19. Capp (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how the plot thickens!  
> The Montys finally appear, and so do the Landgraab-Brokes. Yes, Malcolm did indeed marry Brandi Broke, and they are happy together.

_Capp Manor, Tuesday, 4:50 P.M._  
  
Juliette knew this day was coming and yet she still didn't want to face it.  
  
Tonight was the big gala in the city, and she already knew that her and her siblings "future spouses" were to be attending as well. She sighed, shoving another bobby pin into her bun. Mr. Paris was who she was set up with, and she tried picturing him in her mind. Consort wouldn't dare to set her up with an old man, even though 19 seemed pretty old to her. Hm.. yeah, no. She was drawing a complete blank on this, she'd probably just wait until she actually met him.  
  
She was prepared to put on her makeup, but she paused upon hearing something bump against her window multiple times. What was that? The girl cautiously opened the window, only to see Ripp sitting in a tree with pebbles in his hand. Upon seeing her, the boy dropped them and grinned.  
 _"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It_ _is the east, and Juliette is the sun."_  
Juliette groaned, leaning on the windowsill, "You do know they die at the end, right?"  
"Yeah, but you know I'd die for you either way."  
"I like you better when you're alive, actually. Can't exactly hold conversations with a corpse. What are you doing here anyway? You didn't even call!"  
"I haven't seen my beautiful Juliette all day. I think that's reason enough."  
  
The girl flushed a little at his comment, shaking her head, "But if you get caught here.."  
"I'm not gonna get caught, babe. No one even saw me climb up."  
"Well.. if you say so. I wish I could be with you tonight instead of attending this stupid party. Consort would skin me alive if I skipped though!"  
"I wish I could be with you too, but I can wait until tomorrow to see you. We could catch a movie or something."  
"That'd be nice! There's.. something I have to tell you though. It's important." Before Juliette could share anything, the two teens could hear someone banging on the door.  
  
 _"Juliette, hurry up! Consort wants to leave soon!_ " Tybalt called from outside of the room. Juliette turned back to her window, waving a quick goodbye to her boyfriend before answering Tybalt, "I'm coming! Just putting on a little makeup!"  
She could hear him mumbling about something before he walked back downstairs. That was close.  


* * *

  
_SimCity, Tuesday, 6:00 P.M._  
  
You know what the worst thing about living out in the suburbs is? You're too far from the big city. Of course, that could just be the traffic talking.  
  
Hermia was the first to exit the limo, followed by Juliette, Tybalt, and Consort. They were quickly joined by the rest of their family, including Miranda, Desdemona, and Hal.  
"...Miranda, you do know you're not supposed to wear sneakers with that dress, right?" Hermia asked, raising a brow.  
"So? I like making fashion statements. Maybe it'll catch on."  
  
Hermia sighed, shaking her head at this explanation. Classic Miranda. She could complain some more, but her Uncle Albany had been waiting patiently for them by the door. After stepping inside the tall building, they all headed inside a tiny and cramped elevator. Jeez, they really aren't made for large families.  
"The top floor, please." Consort told the operator, adjusting his tie. Once this was done, the elder turned to face the teens and children in the elevator.  
"I want you all on your best behavior tonight. Tybalt, that means that you cannot fight the Montys while we're here. Miranda, Desdemona, and Hal don't do... whatever it is you three usually do." The aforementioned people nodded at this. Knowing Miranda and the kids, they'd probably do wild stuff anyway.  
  
After a few more moments, the elevator stopped and opened to reveal a large ballroom. It was mostly blue with gold and silver accents in various places. The tables were far off to the left, and there was an area set up to the far right for a bar and dancing. Across the elevator on the far wall, there was a balcony overlooking the city.  
The Capps found their seats between the Landgraab-Brokes, and a nouveau riche family called the Roths. The Roths were so close to being like the Goths, it was almost spooky.  
"Go off and mingle until dinner starts," Consort said, sitting at their table with the other adults and Ariel, "Be sure to talk to your future fiances as well."  
  
With that, the kids and teenagers were off.   
Hal went to hang out with Xander Roth and Benedick and Beatrice Monty, much to the chagrin of Mercutio and Tybalt. Desdemona tried her best to stay calm as she spoke to Beau Landgraab-Broke. Soon enough however, she was dragging him off to dance with her. He actually seemed happy to indulge in her small fantasies.  
Miranda spoke to Sandra Roth and Dustin Landgraab-Broke, clearly getting into the conversation.  
Hermia could see Juliette catching up with Romeo Monty on the balcony and out of prying eyes. She only hoped their families didn't catch them together. They were only friends right now, but the Capps and Montys wouldn't approve of any relationship.  
  
All in all, Tybalt was the only one who actually found his match. He seemed to be enjoying his conversation with her too, which was pretty surprising.  
Hermia prepared to go find hers too, but stopped upon seeing Mercutio Monty leaning against a wall. He was simply observing the party, but smiled a little when he saw Hermia's eyes on him.  
Of course she had to speak to him.  
  
"Hermia. Long time no see, huh?"  
"Yeah. High school's not the same without you, honestly."  
"Oh yeah? I wish I could see you more too. Romeo's got a new girl he won't stop gushing about."  
"What's her name?"  
"Meadow Thayer, or something like that. She's a nice kid, keeps him grounded."  
"Interesting name. Juliette's got a new guy too, and his name is Ripp Grunt."  
"I think I remember a name like that. Is Tank still bossy?"  
"As far as I know, yeah."  
  
They had chatted like that for a while until dinner, which was pretty uneventful. Everyone was simply talking politely, and a lot of the older members were heckling Malcolm Landgraab about not marrying a rich wife. All he did in response was smile and shake his head.   
Finally, it was time to get up and dance. Tybalt searched for Helena, and before Juliette could do anything, Paris found her and requested one. Hermia had been prepared to look for Demetrius, but Mercutio found her instead.  
"I really don't want to dance tonight. At least not right now."  
"I know how you feel. I'm expected to dance with a complete stranger, and I don't even know what he looks like."  
"I say we hit up the bar instead of dancing."  
"We're underage though."  
"They have sodas too."  
  
Hermia couldn't find any reason to disagree, so she allowed Mercutio to escort her over to one of the barstools. While Mercutio ordered a drink and some chips for them, Hermia couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two members of what looked like the Alto family. Hey, weren't they rumored to be in the mafia?   
  
"Dina says that Bella's been taken care of."  
"Good. Maybe they'll finally understand why they shouldn't cross the Altos."  
"Isn't it kinda wrong to torment a family for something their ancestors did? Mortimer and Bella didn't have any beef with us."  
"That doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that the Goths will never see their precious Bella again, just like when they arrested our dear grandparents."  
"Anyone could've ratted them out. Mom wouldn't--"  
"Mom died. She died after marrying Bella's brother, and we didn't like him for a reason."  
  
Hermia furrowed her brow at this exchange. Did Dina and the Altos really get rid of Bella? The Altos would have the means of doing so, but as far as she knew, they weren't in contact with aliens.  
Before Hermia could get even deeper into figuring this out, she felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped.  
"Hey, you good?" Mercutio asked, concerned. He was holding out a straw for her, and there was a red drink with whipped cream between them.  
"Uh, yeah. I was just thinking about something, sorry." She turned in her seat to face Mercutio, taking the straw, "What is this?"  
"Shirley Temple Float. I hope you don't mind sharing it with me."  
  
She didn't, of course.  
While drinking with Mercutio, she couldn't help but think about what she heard. She'd warn the group, but should they really continue on with this? If the Altos found out they were investigating...  
  
No, she didn't want to think about it.


	20. Grunt (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter today!  
> Buck and Ripp bond with each other by teasing Tank. Tank also confesses his attraction to a certain redhead because of this teasing.

_130 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 5:20 P.M._  
  
Ripp Grunt couldn't help but worry a bit for his girlfriend. She said that she had something important to tell him, but was interrupted before she could tell him what.  
  
She didn't look upset when she brought it up, so maybe it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be. He'd have to ask her tomorrow because he knew that she would be at her gala for quite some time.  
When he finally made it home, Tank and Buck were already there. Buck was watching some cartoons on TV, and Tank was texting someone next to him. Huh. He's _never_ seen Tank text or call anyone.  
This calls for a little investigation.  
  
Ripp walked behind the couch, trying to sneak a peek at his older brother's phone. That caused Tank to turn off his phone and look up at him, "Can I help you?"  
"Who's that you're texting?"  
"No one. I was looking up something." At that comment, Buck looked up and gave Tank a funny look. He looked ready to say something, but Ripp snatched Tank's phone and ran up the stairs.  
"GET BACK HERE WITH MY PHONE!" Tank yelled, running after him. Buck paused his show and ran up after the two, clearly more interested in what was happening between them.  
  
Ripp had made it to his room, and locked the door. He pushed a chair underneath the handle for good measure. He could hear Tank shouting and banging on the door, but he ignored that for now. He unlocked the phone, and checked his contacts. Jeez, there was their Dad, himself, Buck, and...  
"You've been texting Angela Pleasant?" Judging by Tank's groan of defeat and the sound of him sliding to the ground, Ripp was right on the money, "You managed to actually talk to her?"  
"Yes, Ripp. Now can I _please_ have my phone back? You had your little laugh."  
  
Ripp moved the chair and unlocked the door, letting Tank and Buck in. Tank held out his hand, but Ripp shook his head and sat.  
"Nope. Not until you tell me what's going on between you and our precious Angie."  
"Nothing's going on with us, Ripp. We just spoke a little this morning, and she gave me her number."  
"Maybe she's interested in you! I know you have a crush on her."  
"She could go for anyone in the school, so why would she choose me? I didn't exactly speak to her that much in the past. And you know what? I don't actually know what I feel for her. She seems like a good friend, but..."  
  
Buck and Ripp looked at each other, then back at Tank. Here comes the imaginary clipboard and pen.  
"Tell us more, please. I, Doctor Grunt and my assistant Buck Grunt, will help you sort out your feelings."  
Tank rolled his eyes, but answered anyway, "I've been having these weird thoughts about her lately. I think that she's pretty, I guess. I've thought about being with her once or twice, but like I said, I don't know her that well even if she's been trying to chat me up. I kinda wanna change that this year."  
  
Ripp and Buck whispered to each other about this for a minute before turning back to their older brother with serious looks on their faces.  
"After very careful consideration, we've come to a conclusion. You're in love with Angie. Don't even deny it this time. You're always blushing when you see her, you just called her pretty, and you said you though about being with her more than once. Even Buck can tell!"  
For once, Tank was silent. He knew that deep down what they were saying was true, but he still couldn't believe it. He's never had a crush on anyone before, and yet here he was.  
  
"Maybe you're right. But how exactly could I let her know that I like her like that?"  
"Take it slow, first of all. You told us that you didn't know her too well, so try and become her friend. Hang out around us more, and that'll be easy. Next, you have to somehow figure out if she likes you back."  
  
As Ripp gave Tank advice, Buck slipped out of the room and back downstairs. The advice would be helpful later on in his life, but not now.

* * *

  
 _130 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 6:00 P.M._  
  
Upstairs, Tank and Ripp were still talking about love lives, so Buck was went back to watching cartoons downstairs.  
He had gotten a reply from Benedick, and he was pretty pleased with the answer!  
  
He had an older sister named Beatrice, and his cousins' names were Romeo and Mercutio. The reason why there were only three families living in Veronaville was because the conflict between his family and the Capps on the other side of town drove everyone away. It almost reminded him of the little feud his family had with everyone else! Okay, so maybe it was his dad and everyone else, but it was still somewhat similar.  
  
He had already finished his letter earlier with the help of Nina, and he was ready to send it off. Maybe he should send him a gift from Pleasantview? He knew that Veronaville was completely different from here, and he doubted that Benedick would be able to come and visit him anytime soon.  
He just had to figure out something to send him.  
  
He could hear that his older brothers were finished with their conversation, and heard Ripp slide down the stair rails. He sat down on the couch next to Buck, and watched his show with him.  
"I don't think I've seen this show before. What's it called?"  
"MySims. It's a cute show! It's about this builder who's trying to help this rundown town get back to its former glory. There's already five episodes, and I'm on the third. A new one comes out every Friday, so I'm trying to catch up." Buck's eyes lit up as he told Ripp about the show. Truth be told, it wasn't something he'd usually watch, but he would for Buck.  
"Mind if I join you in marathoning it? I need something new to watch anyway."  
"The more the merrier!" With that, the two of them shut up and continued to watch.  
  
Eventually, they were joined by Tank, who brought a blanket and turned off the lights. You know, they haven't done anything like this in a while. It felt nice to just kick back and relax for once.  
If only their dad could join them. He probably wouldn't like a show like this either, but he'd sit through it anyway. At least until the boys fell asleep.


	21. Goth (5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander finally tells Cassandra what's up, and Cassandra's going to focus on making him feel better rather than fight with Mortimer.
> 
> I don't know why, but it feels like this chapter's pretty short.

_165 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 7:30 P.M._  
  
Cassandra noticed that Alexander had been avoiding their father and Dina all day, and she was wondering why.  
  
Whenever they entered a room, or if they were already in a room he was in, Alexander would turn tail and leave.  
Whenever they tried speaking to him, he seemed pretty uninterested in the coversation and tried ending it as quickly as he could.  
He never read with Mortimer anymore, and he always claimed that he would start going to bed earlier than usual.  
  
Cassandra knew he wasn't actually asleep.  
  
She slowly walked upstairs, knowing that Mortimer and Dina had went to bed early. Don was relaxing in their shared room, waiting for her to finish up whatever she was doing.  
She knocked on Alexander's room door, hearing a few shuffling noises, "Um, come in!"  
When she opened the door, she could see a book and flashlight poorly hidden underneath his pillow. He visibly relaxed upon seeing that it was Cassandra.  
"Oh. What do you want?" Alexander asked, grabbing his book again. Casaandra moved to sit on the bed, and looked at her younger brother.  
  
"I wanted to talk to you. I'm worried about you, and I need you to tell me what's wrong."  
"Cass, I swear to you that I'm fi--"  
"No, Alexander. You're not fine, and I can tell." Alexander looked back at Cassandra, brows furrowed. She knew already what he was going to ask, "I've seen you when you were upset in the past, and I know this can't _just_ be because of mother."  
"How would you know how I'm feeling?"  
"Your actions these past few days. You've been avoiding father like the plague, and you suddenly ran out of the house yesterday. "  
  
Alexander fell silent at this. He was banking on Cassandra being too focused on everyone else, "I... um..."  
"Please, Alexander. Help me understand you. I'm not going to be mad at you if that's what you're worried about."  
"It's not me I'm worried about."  
"What?"  
"It's.. it's father. He's not hurt or anything, but.. I don't want you two to fight anymore. I know that you will if I tell you."  
  
Cassandra winced at this. They had tried their best to not fight in front of Alexander, but clearly they didn't try hard enough, "Alex, I promise that I won't pick a fight with him. Tonight, I just want to make you feel better."  
"Well... alright. Yesterday evening, I saw father with Dina, and..." Alexander took a shaky breath, trying to gather his thoughts, "I saw Father with Dina upstairs. I saw them kissing, and... and I guess it made me upset because mother hasn't even been gone for a week."  
  
Cassandra was silent, and that's what Alexander was afraid of. It was never a good thing when she went completely silent, "...I see. Well, why don't we wait for him to tell us?"  
"Wait, what?"  
"I want to see how long it will take for him to come clean to us." With that, Cassandra got up from the bed and walked to the door, "I'm not going to fight him over this, but thank you for telling me. How would you feel about moving to a new place?"  
"It'd be nice, I guess. Why?"  
  
"Oh, just wondering." Finally, she exited his room and went to her own.

* * *

  
_165 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 8:00 P.M._  
  
Alexander sat there on his bed, pretty confused by this turn of events.  
  
Cassandra wasn't pissed off, and she didn't go to yell at their father either. She even asked him a pretty strange question! How would he feel about moving to a new place? It'd be nice to get away from their father and Dina, but.. there's no way Cassandra would move out and take him along. She was set to inherit this place!  
  
He put his glasses on his bedside table, and rolled over on his side. Things were definitely changing in this household, and he knew he didn't like it.  
At this point, he didn't want Bella to come home anymore. What would she think about Cassandra and their father fighting so much? About their father and Dina hooking up?  
He didn't want to know the answer to that question.  
  
It was hard for him to fall asleep that night, but he managed it. He fell asleep to the sound of Cassandra and Don talking about something, but he couldn't determine what it was exactly.  
Maybe it was about what Alexander had told her. He didn't really mind her telling him if that was the case. Don more or less ignored him, but he was still nice to Alexander whenever they did interact.  
  
He wondered why his father didn't like him.

* * *

  
_???, ?:??_  
  
Mortimer. That name popped into Bella's head just now.  
Was that who she was married to? Or was that her son's name? She'd figure it out eventually.  
  
For now, she was waving 'goodbye' to her clone. The aliens had decided that it was time to drop the clone to Earth for some reason. The clone seemed sad to leave Bella, but she went along anyway.   
Bella watched the other spaceship depart and sighed. It had been only a few days since the clone was created, but she felt attached to it either way.  
  
Back to talking to herself, it seems.


	22. Pleasant (5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't really focus on the Pleasants, but oh well. The teens are finally investigating in Strangetown, and Tank joined the gang!

_SimCity High, Wednesday, 9:00 A.M._  
  
You know, the two groups of siblings always wondered how Johnny and Ophelia knew _exactly_ when they got off the bus.  
  
They had barely taken two steps from the bus before they were being dragged off by the couple and towards Miranda, Juliette, and Hermia, who were all waiting for them beneath a tree. The group seemed excited for some reason.  
"So.. what's up?" Ripp asked, making his way to Juliette.  
"Johnny and Hermia had something important to share with the group." Ophelia replied, folding her arms.  
"I'll go first," Johnny said, looking around at everyone, "Last night, after everyone in the house went to bed, I heard a loud crash outside. I snuck out to investigate, and I saw a smoking spaceship. I didn't get any closer to it, but I think we should investigate after school. I'm not sure if the Capps ca-"  
Miranda cut him off, "We're coming along no matter what Tybalt and Consort says. There's no way we're missing out."  
"You can count me and Angela in too." Lilith said while Angela nodded.  
"You already know we have your back." Ophelia said, and Ripp gave a thumbs up to Johnny.  
  
The group then all turned to Tank, who sported a somewhat confused look on his face, "You guys want to explore a crashed alien ship in Strangetown. But why? It could be dangerous, and what you're looking for might not even be in it."  
"It sounds weird, you're right. Let me shed a little light on the situation," Hermia said, folding her arms, "By now, you've probably heard about Bella Goth's abduction. There's no way it could have been anyone but the aliens. We think that the spaceship could have information on why Bella was the one taken that night, or that she was being held in that ship."  
"So you guys are trying to solve the mystery of Bella Goth's disappearance?"  
"Correct. Will you be joining us? It's fine if you don't. Just don't tell anyone else about it."  
"You know what? Yeah, I'll join you all. I know that we should probably leave it to the adults as usual, but they're not getting very far."  
  
The teens were silent for a moment, then they all cheered for him. Ripp clapped Tank on the back, grinning, "Welcome to the team, bro. We're glad to have you."  
"Glad to finally join you guys." As the cheering died down, Tank spoke up again, "Didn't Hermia have something to say too?" They all turned to the redhead, who suddenly found her boots to be very interesting.  
"Yesterday at the gala, I overheard a conversation. It was between two members of the Alto family, you know, the ones supposed to be in the Mafia. I heard them talking about Bella's disappearance, and that Dina was involved. They also spoke about getting back at the Goths for something, but they went no further than that."  
  
They all fell silent after hearing this. If the Altos were involved, then they could all be in serious trouble if they were caught.  
"...Will we still go?" Hermia asked sheepishly.  
"...Yeah. If someone wants to back out of this, they can do so now." Johnny finally spoke up. They'd know how it'd go as soon as school let out.

* * *

  
_Strangetown, Wednesday, 3:08 P.M._  
  
There was a reason Angela never went to Strangetown with Lilith. There was sand everywhere, and it was super hot.  
  
After 30 minutes of being crammed between Tank and Miranda because Hermia's art project was in the front seat, she was glad to stretch her legs. Johnny's car had made it to the site before Hermia, so Juliette, Lilith, and Ophelia were resting in the shade by the car while Johnny and Ripp were standing at the edge of the crater left by the ship.  
  
Upon seeing their other friends, the girls hopped up to greet them, while the boys waved them over to the edge.  
"Guys, come look at the size of this thing!" Johnny shouted, causing the group to carefully make their way to the side of the crater.  
Miranda whistled, "Damn. That's bigger than Tybalt's ego."  
"Language." Hermia scolded, but she couldn't help but agree.  
"So, who's going in to check it out?" Angela asked, looking apprehensive, "Some of us should stay out to help the others out of this hole, and it may get a little crowded with nine of us in there."  
  
"I volunteer as tribute." Miranda said, raising her hand. Before Hermia could protest, Lilith raised her hand too.  
"I'm going too." Ripp said, and Johnny raised his hand as well, "I can try and translate a few things."  
No one else seemed interested in going, so it was just the four of them. "We should be back in about twenty minutes. We're going to take our phones so we can keep you guys updated." With Johnny's final words the quartet climbed down into the pit, searching for an entrance they could use.  
  
Hermia sat by the edge of the crater so she could make sure they made it in safely, while Juliette, Ophelia, Angela, and Tank moved by Johnny's car.  
"This is exciting, isn't it?" Juliette asked, removing her blazer, "We're like the Scooby-Doo Gang!"  
"It is. Me, Johnny, and Ripp's explored a lot of abandoned places, but never anything like this." Ophelia replied, leaning against the cool door.  
"So that's why Ripp kept coming home late." Tank mused, looking into the sky, "And with small cuts no less."  
"I wonder if they'll actually find something." Angela was leaning against Tank at this point, trying to get comfortable, "I mean, the ship's partially underground. I bet a lot of the stuff inside was destroyed."  
  
Finally, Hermia joined the small group, resting her arm on Juliette's shoulder, "What are we talking about?"  
"Nothing in particular," Ophelia said, closing her eyes, "We're just waiting for something interesting from the search party."  
"You know, I thought that the aliens would be long gone by now." Juliette spoke up, trying to shrug Hermia's arm off to no avail, "They had what they wanted, so why not leave?"  
"Maybe they were looking for another victim?" Angela theorized, bringing a hand to her chin, "I mean, Strangetown is somewhat closer to Pleasantview than Veronaville is."  
"That's true, but they could have easily abducted someone else that night too and leave just as quickly," Tank pointed out.  
  
They theorized like this for a while, at least until they finally got a text from Johnny with a picture attached.


	23. Caliente (5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina gives Buzz some parenting advice, and the Goths aren't doing so well.

_130 Sim Lane, Wednesday, 3:20 P.M._  
  
As much as Nina loved the kids, it was nice to finally be able to hang out with Buzz alone despite the fact he was a man of few words.  
  
Buck was over at Lucy Burb's house with Alexander, and Tank and Ripp were out with their friends for the day. Buzz managed to come home from work early, so he invited Nina over to watch a little TV.  
  
They were halfway through the show before Buzz cleared his throat and spoke up, "I've been meaning to ask you something."  
The redhead looked over at him, head slightly tilted, "What do you need?"  
"I wanted to know how you manage to get along with the boys so well. I can't say that I've ever really bonded with them in the past."  
"Well... I'm just myself. Dina's only three years younger than me, but I had to take care of her shortly after I graduated from high school because our parents had died. She wasn't a kid like Buck when I did this, but even before that I sometimes looked after her for our parents if they had to work late. I've always liked children, so it's still no problem for me now."  
  
Buzz considered this for a moment, nodding, "I see. How exactly do you bond with them then? I'm sure that I sound like a horrible father, but I've never hung out with them one-on-one before."  
"Don't worry! If you want to bond with them, try doing stuff that they like with them. If they express interest in something, ask them about it. Just relax around them! They don't bite, I'm sure."  
  
"You make it all sound so easy. I am relaxed around them, by the way."  
"It is easy, and you're definitely not relaxed around them." Buzz opened his mouth to reply, but Nina shushed him with a finger to the lips. Had this been with anyone else, he would've yelled at them, but with her..  
"Don't try and deny it. I've seen the way you act around them, and you act like they're business partners or trainees rather than they're your sons! Being a little strict is perfectly fine, but you should also loosen your grip a little too. It may be a little awkward for you to do so, but at least try it." Who would've thought that someone without kids of their own would give genuinely good advice on how to raise them. Once Nina finished her little lecture, she allowed him to speak again.  
  
"...Thank you for the advice. You should write a book on parenting someday, I bet it'd be a bestseller." He'd try his best to actually use her advice tonight, but he knew it could backfire on him easily.  
"You know what? Maybe I should! 'Parenting for Military Families' would be a good title, I think." She was joking, of course, but she felt like he wasn't. She would've made a joke about being a live-in nanny, but that might just be a little too forward for both of their tastes.  
  
After that little exchange, conversation died down and they went back to their show.  


* * *

  
_165 Sim Lane, Wednesday, 3:39 P.M._  
  
Dina would've have been happy with the news about Cassandra expressing the interest to move out, but not this time.  
  
She announced it at breakfast that morning, and Mortimer simply stared at her. It was when she brought up Alexander that he finally said something.  
"You and Don may leave, but Alexander will be staying here."  
"But why, father? I believe that he should get the choice to decide who he wishes to stay with. I won't force him to come, but you can't force him to stay."  
"And why not? He's my son, and I believe he would have better opportunities staying with Dina and I."  
"For starters, he's my little brother and I helped raise him too, and he'd have the same opportunities staying with me! I can afford to take care of him, and he'd still be attending Pleasantview Elementary. I've already purchased the house, and I'm moving into tonight."  
  
Alexander had been silent up until that point, but he finally spoke up, "I... I would like to go with Cassandra." Mortimer looked at him, dumbfounded, "Excuse me?"  
"You heard him, father. He would like to go with me."  
"But- but why?"  
"I don't know if you noticed, but he's been extremely upset these past few days. I was the only one who gave a damn, and I was the only one who comforted him. You may be his father, but you haven't exactly been attuned to his emotions. And you can't say that he didn't tell you either, because you could clearly see it on his face and the way he's been carrying himself." As Cassandra chewed out her father, Alexander took his plate to the kitchen and walked out to the bus.  
  
That was this morning.  
Cassandra was still packing and moving her and Alexander's things with Don's help, while Mortimer sat at the dining table with his head in his hands. Dina was behind Mortimer, rubbing his shoulders comfortingly.  
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Morty. It's not your fault."  
"I know that you're trying to make me feel better, darling, but this is my fault. I've been a horrible father lately, and now I'm losing both of my children. What would Bella think of me?"  
"She wouldn't think anything. She's not here anymore, Mortimer. If the military couldn't find her, then why not get over it?" Dina's voice went dangerously low when she said this, and Mortimer turned to face her, "I... what?"  
"You heard me, Mortimer. It's already been six days since she's been abducted. She could be long gone by now."  
"I don't understand..."  
  
They heard the door slam shut and the sound of a moving truck driving away as well. Cassandra was gone, and he didn't think she'd forgive him anytime soon.  
Dina turned his head towards her, leaning in close, "You're free to do whatever now, Morty," The man gulped, trying to look away, "No wife, no children, what will you do now?"  
He could feel himself being drawn into her eyes, and he placed his hands on top of her own. Finally, he had an answer.  
  
"Whatever you want, Dina."


	24. Capp (5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Miranda screentime! The kids are slowly but surely unravelling the mystery behind the disappearance of Bella Goth.
> 
> What do you think Consort has to tell Hermia, Juliette, and Miranda?

_Strangetown, Wednesday, 3:35 P.M._  
  
This place was actually pretty cool! You know, ignoring the fact that it was a crashed ship.  
  
Miranda couldn't contain her excitement when they managed to find their way into the ship. Johnny had told everyone not to touch anything and to take pictures instead, but touching some of the things was exactly what the young Capp wanted to do. Luckily, she refrained from doing so just in case one of the things here had the ability to melt the flesh off their bones.  
  
The ship was way bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, which was saying something. There were a few broken computers on the ground and they were still sparking. Miranda didn't want to get any closer to them, so she simply took pictures. She stepped around them, coming across a dusty and somewhat crusty floor, which confused her. If it crashed last night, then there shouldn't be dust already.  
  
No one found anything too significant after that until...  
"Guys, come check this out!" Lilith called from a different room. The boys and Miranda rushed inside to see Lilith kneeling over something.  
"What did you find?" Johnny asked, coming a bit closer.  
"I already took a picture of it, but it's a red heel covered in some dried dark stuff like the floor near where we got in. I'm pretty sure this belongs to Bella because I remember Angela asking her where she could get a pair, but I'm not sure about what that stuff all over it is."  
"Blood." Johnny said simply, causing the group to stare at him, "That's alien blood."  
  
That. That was not what Miranda was expecting to hear, or even see, "What, did she beat up one of the aliens on this ship with her heel or something?"  
"Must have. It wouldn't have been smart to attack them while they were flying though." Johnny replied, folding his arms.  
"That doesn't sound like her though. Lilith told me she's a peaceful woman who prefers talking things out." Ripp pointed out, crouching next to Lilith, who nodded in agreement.  
"I dunno guys. Peaceful or not, I'd fight back against anyone or anything trying to kidnap me," Miranda shrugged, "Besides, wouldn't they carry weapons or have her restrained? Nothing's adding up right now."  
  
"They did have weapons, actually." Johnny said, looking at Miranda, "Did you notice the dust near the entrance? That's what happens when you're decimated by a ray gun."  
Miranda widened at this news, and nearly went pale too, "So that dust I stepped in earlier... it was...?" The green skinned teen nodded while Miranda began to freak out. This caused Lilith to get up and hold onto her shoulder to get her to calm down a bit, "Calm down, you didn't know. Do you think Bella was vaporized or something?"  
"No, not really. Considering the lack of aliens on this ship, something tells me _she_ did this." Johnny thought about this for a moment, and began to pace a little, "Why abduct her only to kill her? Actually, aliens almost never kill people when they abduct them. At least, not intentionally."  
"So, Bella got a hold of a weapon. Then what? If she could shoot, why beat them with her shoe?"  
"To disarm them, I guess."  
  
While Johnny and Lilith theorized, Ripp searched the room a bit more. He couldn't tell what this room would've been used for, but there were a lot more overturned computers. There was also a slightly holographic tablet sitting on a desk and it seemed unharmed. Ripp picked up the tablet, turning it over in his hands a few times, "Yo, Johnny. What do you make of this?" The aforementioned teen looked up and made his way over to Ripp, who handed him the tablet, "Dad told me about these. I can't remember the name right now, but they use this to store data from the computers if they're ever destroyed. If there's any more of these in the ship, they should be synced too."  
"So, what can we do with it?"  
"If it actually works, I can probably try and translate. Mom and Dad got me and Jill some books about this type of stuff so that we can also keep up with alien culture."  
  
It was almost time to wrap it up. They sent out pictures of the inside of the ship to their friends, and they began to head out themselves.  


* * *

_Strangetown, Wednesday, 3:40 P.M._  
  
Since Hermia, Tank, and Angela went to wait for their other friends by the edge of the crater, Juliette and Ophelia sat and chatted by the cars.  
  
"What do you think this stuff means?" Juliette asked, peering down at Ophelia's phone.   
"That shoe belongs to Bella, and I'm sure that's blood all over it."  
"So what, did she beat up her abductors with it? There'd be no other reason for her to take off one and keep the other in any other case."  
"They probably came to that conclusion too, and it makes sense. She distracts them, takes off her shoe, and hit one over the head with it. She drops her shoe in the process of trying to escape."  
  
"Discussing without us? For shame." Hermia said jokingly. She was followed by Tank, Angela, and the group who went inside. For some reason, Angela and the others were covered in sand.  
"Just talking about the shoe thing. Can we take this to the car or something? I think I'm gonna die from heatstroke if I stay out any longer!" The Strangetown teens looked at each other because of Juliette's comment. It got way hotter out here, so this was nothing.  
Still, Johnny and Hermia unlocked their car doors and everyone piled into them. It was hot, but they ended up turning on the A/C.  
  
"So, what did you guys find?" Angela asked, leaning back into her seat.  
"That shoe, a lot of dust, more splotches, and a weird tablet." Lilith began. It was short, yes, but they didn't find much more after that.  
"That dust is actually alien ashes!" Miranda exclaimed in distress, nearly smacking Tank in the face when she threw her hands up.  
"We haven't checked out the tablet yet though. Johnny's gonna translate it when he gets home." Ripp said, lowering Miranda's lethal limbs.  
  
"So, what's this about alien ashes? Was there a fire inside or something?" Hermia asked, resting her eyes in the front seat.  
"No fire, but there were a lot of broken computers." Johnny was the one who spoke up this time, "The ashes came from a particular gun that travelling aliens use."  
"I'm guessing the aliens didn't use it on themselves."  
"Not even close. We think that Bella was the one to do it."  
"Makes sense. When she hit them with her shoe, then she could've easily disarmed them." Juliette pointed out, "What if she was the one who got the ship to crash?"   
"By causing so much chaos while trying to take control of the ship, right?" Ophelia asked, earning a nod from Juliette, "I wonder how she managed to survive the crash."  
  
As the teens pondered this, Miranda suddenly jumped up after checking something on her phone, "Hermia? Juliette? We gotta go."  
"Are we in trouble or something?" Hermia asked, sitting up quickly.  
"Nah, he just wants to tell us something. He didn't sound angry or distressed or anything, but he did say we should hurry." The girls relaxed upon hearing this. They haven't been found out just yet, but they'd eventually get there.  
  
Everyone agreed that it was time for them to go home anyway, and they'd meet up Downtown tomorrow. The Capps peeled off on their own, but Johnny was stuck with taking the Pleasants and Grunts home. Ophelia tagged along, of course.  
  
They were making good progress so far.


	25. Grunt (5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ripp and Tank get POVS this time! Buzz tries to work on being a good father, and it's not going so badly. It's kinda short, I think.

_130 Sim Lane, Wednesday, 4:10 P.M._  
  
The Pleasants and Grunts had made it home with plenty of time to spare, but Tank and Angela had run off together as soon as they made it home. Lilith and Ripp gave each other a knowing look.  
  
Anyway, that left Ripp to enter the house by himself. He was surprised to see that Nina Caliente's car was parked outside, and even more surprised to see his father and Nina actually hanging out at the house for once. They kept sneaking glances at each other like a teenaged couple at the movies, and it was pretty funny to watch from the window.  
Alas, the teenaged boy had to ruin the moment because it was starting to get cold just standing there.  
  
He entered the house with a grin, causing Nina and Buzz to jump to the opposite ends of the couches as if they were burned. Buzz cleared his throat, not even turning to look back at Ripp, "You're home earlier than I expected." He wouldn't show Ripp his face, and he sounded pretty flustered. Nina was whistling innocently, eyes glued on the T.V. again.  
"I could say the same about you." Based on their reactions to him coming in, they probably were starting to get somewhat intimate. Jeez, and the adults complained about teenagers being the ones who're horny when there isn't anyone to watch them!  
"No new developments were going on with the Bella Goth case. They'll call me back when they find something else. Now tell me, how was your day?" Nina nodded at this question, causing Ripp to raise a brow, "It was fine, I guess. Why?"  
"I was simply wondering. Where's Tank then? Was he with you?"  
"He was, but he went off to hang out with Angela."  
"Who's Angela?"  
"A girl in my class. I hang out with her and her sister, Lilith, sometimes after school. Actually, they were with us today."  
  
It was the general's turn to be surprised with this, "Tank's out with a girl, and one of your friends no less. I never thought I'd see the day."  
"In her defense, Angela's pretty responsible! I'm pretty sure they're doing their homework together or something. Are you gonna interrogate him when he gets back?"  
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But don't you have homework to do too?"  
"Oh, yeah! Enjoy your little date with Nina, and don't keep us up all night!" Before either adult could reply, Ripp was running up the stairs. He could hear his father groan and Nina laugh somewhat nervously at the comment, and he managed to smile again. It's not like either of them denied dating each other. In any case, he could hear her leaving quickly, and them promising to meet up again tomorrow.

Scandalous.

After entering his room, he tosses his backpack onto his bed and pulled out his work folder. Time to tackle the algebra and history homework!  
Or convince Lilith and Hermia to give him the answers at least. Hermia always told him to do it himself because "she couldn't help him on the test" and that "we're in different grades, so I don't have your worksheet", but Lilith usually helped out in return for the answers to the physics and literature homework. It was a nice and fair operation they had going on.  


* * *

  
_130 Sim Lane, Wednesday, 4:50 P.M._  
  
Angela has insisted on doing homework with Tank when they got back to Pleasantview, and he didn't see any reason to say no to her unlike in the past.  
  
They had managed to finish the work quickly due to him remembering some of his work from when he was a Junior, and so they hung out for quite a while after they were done. In the past, he didn't realize how touchy-feely she was because he never let her get close enough. When he finally let his walls down a little while with her today, she kept linking their arms together and she even gave him a hug at the end of their walk. He didn't mind for some reason, but he's never seen her do stuff like this with anyone else.   
It made him feel somewhat special.  
  
After he walked her home he headed to his own house, not knowing what was waiting for him there in the living room.  
As soon as he walked in, he noticed that his father was sitting on the couch and seemed to be waiting for him.  
"Tank, have a seat." He said, pointing at the couch to his left. Tank did so, a little confused and a little worried. Was he in trouble or something? "What do you need, sir?"  
"Where have you been? Ripp came home ages ago, and stop looking so stiff." He sounded serious, but he seemed to be fighting a laugh of sorts. Because of this, Tank managed to relax a bit.  
"I was out with a friend." This line of questioning from his father was weird, to tell you the truth.   
"What's their name?"   
"Angela, sir. Angela Pleasant. We've recently became friends, and she invited me out so we could do homework together."  
"I see." The general was silent for a few minutes, but then the corners of his mouth twitched, "I'm glad that you're finally making friends. When will I get to meet to meet this Angela?"  
"Uh..." Tank couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Probably not, based on his tone. "Tomorrow, I guess?"  
  
Buzz was absolutely kidding, but he wasn't going to complain if Tank really did bring her over. His sons never really seemed comfortable inviting over their friends when he was gone, and he wanted to finally change that, "I'll be looking forward to it then. You are dismissed."  
As Tank got up to leave, he could've sworn he heard a creak from the stairs. Probably Ripp eavesdropping again.  
As soon as he made his way to the stairs, he could hear someone running up and shutting a door.   
That proved that at least one of his brothers was listening in on the conversation for some reason.  
  
"Try not walking so hard, wannabe ninja!" Tank yelled at Ripp from the hallway. It was silent for a moment, but then, "I'll stop walking so hard when you tone down the teacher's pet thing, Loverboy!" Really?  
All Tank could do right now was walk into his own room. He'd get back at Ripp when they all went down for dinner. Maybe a headlock was in order?  
As he flopped down onto his bed, his thoughts drifted to Angela. He should probably tidy up a little before tomorrow, and maybe she'd stay for dinner? He hoped that Ripp didn't say something dumb about the whole thing because he's more than capable of telling his other friends about this meeting. Oh god, what _if_ he told them all? They'd never let them live this down!  
  
He was both excited and nervous about tomorrow. Mostly nervous.


	26. Goth (6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post another chapter today!  
> No Alexander, Don has a few doubts, and you get a new POV!

_95 Woodland Drive, Wednesday, 5:30_  
  
It had taken nearly the whole day, but Cassandra and Don had finally finished unpacking.  
  
They had to go out and purchase some more furniture later this week, but they did manage to purchase a nice couch, TV, and dining room set.  
Cassandra sat down next to Don, giving a loud sigh, "I can't believe we actually left. I feel bad for saying all those things to him." Don tilted her head to face him, and he planted a kiss on her cheek, "Don't feel so bad about it, baby. You were only looking out for Alexander."  
"I know, but... maybe I was a bit too harsh on him?"  
"Cassie, it's fine to be a little hard on him even if he is your dad. I noticed that he was more focused on Dina than you guys lately."  
"...You're right. I'm not going to cut him out of our lives, though. Maybe he'll have a realization."  
  
Don said nothing after that, so she just curled into him. You know, Cassandra was a genuinely nice person. He honestly felt bad for using her like this, but it was far too late to back out now. Dina had contacted the Altos, and he knew that his life would be in danger if he tried getting out of this. He looked down at the woman in his arms sadly. Don Lothario wasn't supposed to fall in love.  
  
"What's on your mind?" Cassandra asked, looking up at her fiancé. He seemed lost in thought about something.  
Don shook his head, "It's nothing, baby."  
"No, something _is_ wrong. I can tell when people are upset about things, you know. It's how I got Alexander to tell me what was wrong."  
He had completely forgotten about that.  
"Well.. I was wondering if you'd accept being married earlier." That wasn't what was bothering him, but he wasn't going to tell her about their plans, "I know that you probably want to wait until Bella gets back."  
"I wouldn't object to being married to you sooner, but why?"  
"Well, what if either of us get abducted like Bella? I have faith that she'll return, but what if either of us never returned?"  
  
Cassandra thought about this for a moment. She really did want to wait until Bella made it back, but other people could disappear in the meantime.  
"Okay. How does this Sunday sound then? I do have my dress and we did already pick out decorations."   
"That sounds good to me, baby. Don't forget to tell Alexander about this when he gets home."  
"I won't, trust me. I hope that you two are getting along."  
"To tell you the truth, I don't think we are. We don't talk too much, and I don't think we have the same interests."  
"You don't know that. Will you try and hang out with him a bit more before the wedding?  
"Of course. Since he's important to you, he's important to me too."  
  
The woman smiled at this, finally relaxing in his arms. Dina would be pleased to hear about him being able to move up the wedding, but he was tempted to simply elope. He knew it was their fault that this family was crashing and burning, and he felt bad about it.  
He was sure Cassandra would hate him if he told the truth, so he didn't.

* * *

  
 _Strangetown, ?:??_  
  
In hindsight, it was probably a terrible idea to stage a coup on a floating alien ship, but it did feel right in the moment.  
  
She was ripped away from the only other person knew. They had an uncanny resemblance, and that's what drew this woman to the other. That woman taught her how to speak, and how to properly reply. It was strange.  
She could walk, gesture, and do anything else, but she could not speak.  
  
That's why she had to escape. She wanted to be reunited with that woman. She was sure that her name was Bella, or something similar.  
Either way, she had managed to distract one of the aliens and she hit it with her shoe. Before anyone else could try to help it or restrain it, she took the fallen alien's gun.  
She trained it on them as she tried exiting the room.  
  
It was mostly chaos after that, and she could hardly tell what had happened. All that she knew was that she was outside of the ship, covered in blood (not all of it was hers), cuts, and bruises.  
She had landed somewhere hot and sandy, but it wasn't exactly tropical. She could see a few houses in the distance, so she walked.  
  
It felt like she walked for hours, and her feet were hurt and blistering. She approached the first house she saw, and knocked on the door. A woman with short, red hair and glasses had answered.  
"How may I help you?" The woman asked, taking in the woman's rough appearance.  
"I need help. I was being held captive by aliens and-- and you think I'm crazy.  
"No, no, please go on. Why don't you come in, Miss...?"  
The black haired woman didn't have a name. She looked around for a moment before replying, "Uh, Sandy."  
"Miss Sandy, a pleasure. I am Circe Beaker. Please, come in and make yourself at home. I'm interested in hearing your story, and I'm certain my husband will be too.  
  
"Sandy" allowed Circe to lead her into the house, noting the various inventions strewn around the place.  
  
Just who were these people?


	27. Pleasant (6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a little Alto family lore!  
> Also, Tank and Angela bond a little. Dirk gets some actual screentime too.

_SimCity High, Thursday, 9:07 A.M._  
  
Like every morning, Johnny and Ophelia met up with the Pleasants and Grunts as soon as they got off the bus and dragged them to the Capps.  
  
The girls seemed anxious for some reason, but relaxed upon seeing their friends. Hermia was the one to tell them what the problem was, "Do you remember me telling you guys about those Alto men yesterday morning? Well, they just moved into Veronaville last night. On our side of town."  
"What?" Angela asked, eyes wide, "Why would they move to Veronaville? They usually stick to SimCity, Bridgeport or Roaring Heights, don't they? I'm pretty sure they prefer to stay in the big cities."  
"I wouldn't be able to tell you why they came, but I can tell you their names. They're brothers, and the oldest is named Prospero while the younger is Darius. Apparently they were the sons of a Miss Holly Alto?"  
  
"Actually, me and Angela's heard that name before. Bella mentioned it when she invited us in for lemonade during a super hot summer one year." Lilith said, folding her arms, "She told us that Holly married her brother, Michael. They knew each other as teenagers in Sunset Valley and they dated a while before one of them had to leave. They met up again when she wanted a divorce from her first husband due to her wanting the family away from a life of crime, but that husband wasn't having it. He somehow got custody of the kids, and Holly stuck with Michael until she died in a mysterious accident."  
"Damn.." Miranda said, earning a glare from Hermia, "I feel bad for her now. I wonder what she'd think about her sons turning out like this? You know, considering she lost them when she tried taking them away."  
"Probably pretty disappointed. I wonder why their dad wanted them to stay in a life of crime, however." Ophelia shook her head, leaning against the meeting tree, "I'm more curious about the mysterious circumstances behind her death. I may be thinking about it too hard, but it's kinda strange that it's 'mysterious' rather than 'accidental'."  
  
"No, you might be onto something there," Tank said, bringing a hand to his chin, "Why would it be deemed mysterious? Did she have any health problems or something?"  
"None that I can remember." Angela spoke up this time, "I also remember her only being about thirty or forty-something when she died anyway. Bella told us that they had met up again in their twenties, so they weren't even together that long."  
"I see.. so then what _was_ her cause of death?"  
"I believe she was hit by a car as she was leaving a formal party with some friends. Michael was still at work at the time, but called off early when he heard what happened. They say that the driver of the car who hit her didn't even stop to check on her, so they thought it might've been deliberate. The mysterious part is that the car and the driver who hit was was never found after that."  
"That's.. pretty brutal. a And also a little weird. I can't believe Mrs. Goth told you all about that in one afternoon."  
"Well, we did point out a picture of Holly that was hanging up on the wall at the time. She likes to tell stories, that Bella. Lilith and I loved listening to each and every one."  
  
"So, this still doesn't explain why her sons came to Veronaville instead of staying in the city," Juliette pointed out, "A good majority of them stick to the city because business is better there. In fact, Bridgeport was founded by an Alto!"  
"Maybe they wanted to expanded their horizons to Veronaville," Miranda suggested, adjusting her shades like usual, "Everyone knows by now how tiny our town is. So many houses, yet only three families and a few branches from those families live there. They're just as rich as us, and probably have just as many connections too. Add in the fact that they don't have a feud, and they could easily modernize the town."  
"Are you sure your grandpa would let that fly?" Angela asked, "He doesn't seem like the type to let a newcomer come in and steal your family's thunder."  
"No, he wouldn't. We'll have to see what he does in the coming days." Hermia finally said.  
  
Just then, the bell rang and the group of teens scampered off to go to class.

* * *

  
 _SimCity, Thursday, 2:50 P.M._  
  
The teens decided it was time to switch up their meeting place for once. Instead of the playground, they decided to walk around SimCity.  
  
This time, Lilith invited her boyfriend Dirk to come and hang out with them for once. He accepted the invitation, and he and Lilith held hands as they walked behind Johnny, Ophelia, and Miranda as they chatted about something up front.  
Ripp was carrying Juliette on his back. He insisted on carrying her as "exercise", but she was pretty light and refused to let him carry her bridal style.   
Hermia was off to the side of them, texting someone on her cellphone. Judging by the look on her face, it was either Mercutio Monty or Puck Summerdream. Maybe even both, considering they were all friends with each other.  
  
Tank and Angela brought up the rear. Like yesterday, her arm was linked with his. This time, however, they would quickly move away from each other if they suspected someone was going to look back at them. They were not looking foward to any teasing that would ensue from this.  
Finally, Angela spoke in a low whisper for only Tank to hear, "I can't stop thinking about the Capps and Altos. If they were to figure out that we were onto them.. they'd be easy targets."  
"You might have a point there, but something tells me Consort wouldn't let something like that happen."  
"Yeah, but.. I still can't help but worry. I don't want to back out of the case, but I don't want anything to go wrong either. If not the Capps, then it could be any of us!" Angela was panicking a little, but Tank reached down and held her hand. It made her stop and look up at him curiously. He wasn't even looking at her anymore; Instead he looked across the street at the large building and people going about their days.  
  
"You don't need to worry about me or Ripp, and you know.. I wouldn't mind fighting for you. Or Lilith, don't get me wrong!"  
He seemed flustered, and so was Angela. She appreciated the sentiment though!  
"Oh! Thank you, Tank. I didn't know that you felt that way."  
"It's just that you're my first real friend, so you're pretty important to me."  
"I'm honored to be your friend. I really am. You're important to me too." Tank finally turned back to face Angela, who was smiling. He couldn't help but smile with her.  
  
Up front, Lilith and Dirk were listening in on Johnny and Miranda's little debate.  
"You don't need to eat the pizza crust, Miranda."  
"Uh, yes you do! Johnny, the crust is just as important as the toppings, cheese, and sauce. "  
  
Lilith and Dirk looked at each other, and burst out into laughter.  
"Are they always like this, Lili?" He asked, wiping away a tear.  
"Nah. Sometimes they argue about pineapple on pizza."   
The two of them looked at each other once more, laughing again. It wasn't really funny, but they had fun anyway.  
As it died down, Lilith squeeze Dirk's hand lightly.  
  
"Hey.. sorry about not hanging out with you lately."  
"It's fine, don't worry! We're hanging out now, aren't we? Besides, I've been kinda busy myself too."  
"Did you finally make it onto the baseball team?"  
"Yup, my first game is next Friday. Think you could make it? I like to think you're my good luck charm." Lilith didn't blush that much, but his comment was close to making her do so.  
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss your game for the world. We can even throw a little party for when you win!"  
" _If_ I win. Bluewater High isn't a force to be reckoned with, even if it is a small school. Now, enough about me. How are you doing?"  
  
How was Lilith doing? Pretty well, to tell you the truth. With Hermia and Angela's tutoring, her grades were up and her mom's been nicer to her lately too.  
"Pretty damn good, actually. Things have been going my way, and I love it!"  
"Good for you! Do we still need to set up our running away kit?"  
"You know what? We can put that on pause for a while. There's something I actually had to tell you, and the group gave me permission to share."  
Dirk looked serious now, and Lilith dropped her voice to a whisper while leaning in close to speak into his ear.  
  
"We're trying to find Bella Goth."  
"What?"  
"We're looking for Bella. Yesterday, we found an alien ship that had traces of her in it but-"  
"That's wonderful! Did you find her?"  
"Nah. Johnny found something that would help us find it, but he's still translating."  
"Darn. Is there anything I can do to help?"  
Lilith was surprised at his question. Dirk liked reading about adventures in books, but he wasn't really one who actually wanted to _go_ _on_ an adventure.  
  
"You want to help us look for Bella?"  
"Yeah. The more the merrier, right? That is, if you'll have me. It's fine if I can't join you guys, but it was worth a shot."  
"No, no! You're more than welcome to join us. You just have to promise not to tell anyone else about this investigation, okay?"  
"You have my word, Lili. I won't let you guys down." With that, Lilith gives him a small kiss on the cheek and grinned, "Welcome to the team, Dirk. Meet up with us every morning by the tree in front of the school, and at the park when we get out."  
  
And with that, the group of 9 had turned into a group of 10.  
Lilith was somewhat worried about Dirk getting involved, but he looked so happy when he asked to join.  
  
She couldn't and wouldn't crush him like that, even if he did hide it well.


	28. Capp (6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter today! Since I already had it done for today, I decided that I might as well post it.
> 
> We see why the Altos move into town, Tybalt isn't provoking his younger siblings, and Hal and Desdemona get a little more screentime!
> 
> (also i just realized i forgot caliente went after pleasant. oops.)

_Capp Manor, Thursday, 3:50 P.M._  
  
They really should visit the city instead of sticking by the park more often. Oddly enough, Consort and Tybalt haven't been getting on the girls about them staying out late.  
  
Anyway, after dropping Miranda off home, Hermia and Juliette went home themselves. They could see Tybalt, Consort, and the Altos' cars parked outside, and they shared a look.  
Hermia was somewhat worried about the fact that the Altos were at their house, but Juliette grabbed her arm and slowly led her inside. She already knew that Hermia probably would've stayed outside the whole day if she didn't.  
  
As soon as they walked in, the girls could hear laughter and smell the smoke of a cigar. That basically confirmed the fact that the Altos-- Or Darius, at least-- was present. Consort never smoked, and he never really drank except for special occasions.  
They could see Tybalt standing by the door to the kitchen, arms folded. When he noticed his sisters, he nodded in acknowledgement, "Hey."  
"Hey, yourself." Juliette said as Hermia nodded back, "What's going on in there?"  
"Darius came by, and he still hasn't left. Said he had a business proposition for Consort. They said I could stay and listen if I wanted, but I didn't stay too long because the smell of Darius' cigar was too much."  
"Did you at least get to hear what the pitch was? Judging by all the laughing going on in there, it must've been a success."  
  
Tybalt nodded, "Yeah. Darius wanted his help to industrialize the town. You know, get more people living here and all that good stuff."  
"I'm surprised Consort agreed to it." Hermia said, removing her blazer, "He _hates_ doing business with other people, especially since that's what led to the conflict with the Montys."  
"To tell you the truth, I was pretty surprised myself when I heard it. I think it's good that he's started working with other people again. This place has been pretty backwards for a while now."  
  
"Oh, did you girls just come in?" Consort asked, stepping out the kitchen with a small smile. Darius followed him out with a smile of his own, "Hello, Hermia and Juliette."  
"Hello, Mr. Alto." Juliette said. Hermia tensed up, so her sister lifted up her hand and waved it for her.  
"We're going out for business. We'll be out late, so Tybalt's in charge. If any of you need anything, call Goneril, Kent or Regan first." Once the teens said goodbye, the two men left.  
  
"We already did our homework while we were out, so.." Hermia said, making her way to the stairs to change out of her outfit.  
"Don't bother me unless it's important. I'm working on some designs, and I don't need any distractions." Juliette stated, following Hermia up.  
  
...Huh. They _really_ didn't want to hang out with Tybalt, did they? It stung him a little, but he'd get over it eventually. They'd understand later on why he does what he does.  


* * *

  
_7 Chorus Court, Thursday, 4:20 P.M._  
  
Miranda loved her siblings, she really did, but sometimes they were a handful.  
  
While texting Rick, Desdemona kept talking about how she got to dance with her "French fairy king" at the gala on Tuesday. It got to the point to where Hal borrowed Miranda's earbuds so he could finish his letter to Alexander Goth.   
"Don't you see, Miranda? It's true love! We're gonna get married, live in a _chateau,_ and adopt fairies!"  
"Aren't you a little too young for marriage? Or even love for that matter?"  
"Minor details! Disney princesses fall in love and get married when they're young too, so it's no different!  
"One, they're still older than you, two, they're fictional, and three, mom and dad would never let you run off to Champs Les Sims to elope."  
"I don't know what 'elope' means, but who says I'm gonna tell them? We're gonna marry in secret!"  
  
Miranda resisted the urge to facepalm.  
  
Just then, Hal got up from the table and packed his stuff away. He flopped down on the couch next to Miranda and tried reaching for the remote, "What's on?  
"Bustin' Out, Urbz: Sims in the City, and MySims."  
"Turn on MySims! It's a fun show that Alexander told me about." Miranda simply handed the remote to Hal, and got ip to leave.  
"Where are you going?"  
"Somewhere." With that, the teen went up to her room. Knowing Miranda, she was probably going to video chat with her friend all the way across the country. To tell you the truth, Hal couldn't remember much about that person except that he was a boy, and he was a few months younger than Miranda.   
  
When Miranda left, Desdemona climbed up onto the couch with Hal, staring at the the screen, "So, Alexander told you about it? It doesn't really look like his kind of show."  
"I know, right? But yeah, he told me about it because Buck told him about it."  
"What's it about then?"  
"Well basically, a sim's trying to rebuild a town..."  
He went on with describing the plot as best as he could without any spoilers, despite the plot being pretty basic.  
  
Hal and Desdemona may be pretty different in terms of personality and interests, but MySims was something they could definitely bond over with each other. It's better than Goneril's soap operas, even if Desdemona secretly loved them too.


	29. Caliente (6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina has a new friend, and we learn a little bit more about Dina's motivation and past.
> 
> When this book is complete (not anytime soon!), what would you like to see me write next? And should it still be set in this universe?

_170 Main Street, Thursday, 4:40 P.M._  
  
Today, Nina stayed home. Buzz had to head into work again because a U.F.O crashed in Strangetown, and she didn't need to babysit Buck because his brothers were home.  
  
She was alright with that, however. As soon as she returned home from work as a stunt double, she adopted a greyhound puppy named Rocky. He was an energetic little thing, and he ran all around the house simply exploring; After Nina moved anything that could break or harm him.  
While watching Rocky, the woman couldn't help but wonder about Dina. The blonde simply wouldn't speak to her anymore. Nina tried contacted her only a few times this week so she didn't come off as clingy, but this was ridiculous.  
She _saw_ Dina around town, but always managed to lose her when she tried to approach. Did this have something to do with their little argument before she moved? That could have been it, but they've fought over worse things.  
  
Soon enough, Rock had tired himself out and hopped up onto the couch with Nina and rested his head on her lap. She began to pet the happy puppy until she heard her cell phone ring. She checked the caller I.D., immediately raising her eyebrows afterwards.  
Speak of the devil.  
  
"Hello, Dina?"  
 _"Nina, my dear sister!"_  
"What's up? Are you okay? You haven't called in a while, so.."  
 _"I'm fine, I'm fine! I just had to tell you something. Mortimer asked me to marry him! Isn't that grand?"_  
Hold up. Nina knew Dina couldn't see her through the phone, but she stared at the phone with a shocked expression anyway, "Wait, what?"  
 _"Mortimer wants me to be the next Mrs. Goth!"_  
"But what about Bella? You _just_ moved in with them. How can you be getting married already? Please, think about this a bit more."  
  
The line went silent for a moment, and Nina was afraid that Dina had hung up on her.  
 _"I've thought about it, Nina. Believe me."_  
"Then you understand wh-"  
 _"No, Nina. I'm marrying him, and nothing you say or do will change my mind. You don't have to come to the wedding."_  
"But--"  
 _"Goodbye, Nina."_ With that, Dina had actually hung up on her. Nina groaned, tossing her phone next to her in frustration.  
  
What did she do to deserve this?

* * *

  
 _165 Sim Lane, Thursday, 4:45 P.M._  
  
Dina felt bad for hanging up on her sister, but hey; That's just how the cookie crumbles.  
  
Nina may have had a point in her making a move on Mortimer, but there wasn't any point in simply waiting a few years to propose to him. Dina had heard about the alien ship crashing in Strangetown, and she couldn't help but smile at that.  
Was it wrong of her to assume that Bella died in that crash too?  
The army didn't disclose anything just yet, but the blonde and Mortimer had an idea on what they were going to say anyway. Cassandra was far more hopeful when she called the house earlier to announce the wedding date being moved up. Mortimer couldn't bring himself to crush her heart at the moment.  
  
Dina, however, was more concerned with the wedding being moved up. She didn't actually think Don could convince Cassandra. Earlier, she called the Altos to get some advice on what to do, and they told her to try and convince Mortimer to marry her next.  
That was easy.  
With just a little flirting and a bit more wine, he was completely wrapped around her little finger, and because his children were gone, she could be way more bold with her advances. It was almost silly how one could flirt and be proposed to in the same day.  
Then again, seducing people had always been easy for her.  
  
She was officially future Mrs. Goth. They were to be married next month, and no sooner. This month was about Don and Cassandra, and that was fine by Dina. That gave her just enough time to give Don a few more instructions on what to do with Cassandra in the coming days. It wasn't bad or anything like that, but he had to gain more of Cassandra's trust if this plan were to succeed.  
Dina had to do the same. She needed to get Mortimer to write her into his will somehow, or get his money some other way. The Altos weren't picky on how she accomplished this, just that she accomplished it.  
  
She knew it was wrong to trick an old man like this, but she didn't feel remorse. Not really. Even before the Altos started breathing down her back, she's always loved money. Sure, the Calientes were pretty well off when they were younger, but Dina always wanted more. Why should the rich hoard it all? They earn all of that money without lifting their finger! Why shouldn't she have that for herself? That's why she became a gold digger as soon as she hit 20.   
Nina never approved of her actions either, but Nina was never interested in money anyway. She was more interested in finding a soulmate.  
  
Sadly, they always flocked to Dina. She always did feel bad for Nina, and Nina never blamed her, but it was always a little funny to her. Either way, she ended stealing those men's money for breaking Nina's heart. Nina didn't like it when she did that, but she never complained about it. It was when Michael Bachelor became a widower did they start drifting apart. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past. Michael was long gone now, and it was time to do the same with Mortimer.

  
He had no clue what was coming for him. With the Altos' help, she wouldn't even be suspected. After all, they had the police in their pockets.


	30. Grunt (6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tank and Angela get a little closer, and Buck becomes a little demon.

_130 Sim Lane, Thursday, 5:10 P.M._  
  
True to his word, Tank had asked Angela to come over and she agreed. Ripp and Lilith teased them all the way home because of this, but they ignored them.  
  
Buzz seemed to like Angela, and that was good! Sure, he grilled her like a parent would do to someone trying to date their kid, but she managed to stay calm despite shaking like a leaf. After the small interrogation, Buzz nodded at Tank in approval. He even gave her permission to stay for dinner!  
That had been hours ago. Buzz had to go Strangetown tonight, so he left the kids some money to buy their own food.  
They all decided on Chinese food tonight, and once that arrived and they finished eating, they went to their respective rooms. Of course, Angela went with Tank to his room.  
  
He instant regretted letting her in.  
Yes, he cleaned up the room yesterday, but he neglected to hide the action figures that were standing there mockingly on his windowsill. Almost immediately, the redhead went to inspect them, "Those belong to Buck." He quickly said.  
 _"No they don't!"_ Buck called from his room, causing Tank to groan. Angela giggled at this, "There's nothing wrong with collecting action figures."  
"Aren't they for kids?"  
"No, not really. Adults collect them too. I think it gives your room a little more personality." He could see where she was coming from. The room quite plain and simple, to tell you the truth. It was mostly green with black or a really dark blue furniture. There weren't any posters on the wall, so it looked quite naked.  
  
"I guess it does. I've had them for ages, and I guess I never thought about giving them away."  
"Well, don't. I like that you kept some of your childhood things! A lot of the people at school don't do that."  
"Angela, is there anything you _don't_ like about me? You said that you liked my face paint, and you said that you like the fact that I kept my childhood toys. Why are you so interested in me anyway?"  
"There isn't much that I dislike about you, except.. you never open up to anyone. You don't show your feelings to anyone, and it makes you seem cold and standoffish." She paused for a moment, looking for the words to use, "Yet, that's why I'm interested in you. I _want_ to unravel the mystery that is Tank Grunt. I want to see every side of you no one else gets to see, and I've always wanted to know why you always avoided us in the past."  
  
He was not expecting an answer like that. Not from anyone, and especially not from Angela. It didn't occur to him that someone would genuinely be interested in getting to know him, especially taking all of the walls he built up over time into account. That explained why she was so clingy with him and no one else. That's why she kept coming back despite the fact he normally didn't say too much to her.  
"Is that so?" He might regret this later, but Angela was pretty trustworthy, "Well, ask me anything, but nothing too personal. We're friends, but I'm not comfortable with divulging that much information to anyone just yet."  
Angela nodded, and her eyes seemingly twinkled at the sound of this, "Alright! First of all, why were you avoiding us so much in the past?"  
  
He knew she wouldn't make this easy for him, and he began regretting his decision to tell her more about him.

* * *

  
 _130 Sim Lane, Thursday, 5:20 P.M._  
  
Buck couldn't stop snickering from earlier. Tank tried to deny the fact that he had action figures, but Buck called him out.   
  
Now that Tank and Ripp were distracted in their rooms, Buck could go downstairs and watch some TV. It wasn't MySims this time because the new episode wasn't out yet, but a show about aliens called Spore.  
Buzz and Tank would probably kill him for watching it considering the fact they had a small distate for aliens, but Buck didn't really care about all of that nonsense. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.  
  
He was more excited for tomorrow, however. He was finally able to convince his best friend, Jill Smith, to come to Pleasantview. They even managed to convince Johnny to bring her over. Alexander and Lucy liked her the one time they got to meet at the park, and he only regretted not getting Hal and Desdemona's phone numbers too. Maybe another time.  
Today, he, Alexander, and Lucy got to fix up the unused shed in the back with Lucy's father, John. The shed itself was almost like a tiny house, and it was perfect for President Alexander and his "bodyguards" to meet up and hold meetings in. Soon, Jill would be able to join them as well!  
  
Why couldn't today go by faster? Sure, he's impatient, but what kid isn't? He had been watching Spore for a while now, and his attention span was going down quickly. Hm..  
Too bad he didn't have a phone like the teens in the house. He'd ask if he could watch SimTube videos on their phones, but they're constantly on them. Nina didn't come over tonight either, so he couldn't exactly share his stories with anyone either. He finished his letter to Benedick earlier today too.  
  
Suddenly, he had an idea.  
He turned off the TV, and proceeded to make his way to his room. Once there, he grabbed a few boxes of a certain brand of tiny building materials. He sprinkled said building material around the upstairs hallway, careful not to trap himself in the center of it all. After this was done, he hopped back into his room and shut the door.  
  
Bored and somewhat mischievous 11 year olds and legos just don't mix.  
  
Now they were all trapped upstairs until someone brave enough cleared the area of legos, which could take a while for anyone to notice.


	31. Goth (7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander makes a reappearance! What did Don do with the mafia? And who do you think Sandy's trying to rescue?

_95 Woodland Drive, Thursday, 7:30 P.M._  
  
Cassandra noticed how much better Alexander was doing now that they weren't living with Mortimer and Dina anymore. It made her happy to see.  
  
He had gone outside in the backyard to stargaze about 30 minutes ago, and he seemed to enjoy it. Of course, Cassandra was watching him from the window to make sure nothing happened to him. Earlier today, he couldn't contain his excitement for tomorrow. Apparently, one of Buck's friends would be visiting Pleasantview tomorrow, and he planned to make her feel welcome by telling her facts about the stars. Cassandra found his method interesting, but it was kinda cute either way.  
  
Don had left about two hours ago to do some sort of business and to book a wedding venue for Sunday. They planned on inviting the whole town, so they agreed to host it somewhere downtown. He wasn't back yet, but he did call to say that he had it booked already. Cassandra had sent out the invitations right after, and now all they could do was wait.  
Alexander had just come back inside while Cassandra was checking out her messages for the 5th time today, and he tossed a little notebook onto the coffee table after setting down his telescope in the kitchen. Once this was done, he sat down on the couch beside her and rested his head on the arm.  
"So, you're trying to make your new friend feel welcome?" Cassandra asked, picking up Alexander's journal. He was tempted to take it back from her, but decided against it because it'd probably look suspicious, "Yes, I am. Buck mentioned that she was into astronomy, so I wanted to be able to show her the constellations here."  
"What's her name? And _did_ you manage to find constellations tonight?"  
"Jill Smith, she's quite charming. I did manage to find two constellations; Lyra and Sagittarius, and I've written simple notes about them to share with the others."  
  
Cassandra nodded at this, smiling a little. It was nice to see Alexander trying to be friendly to someone he hardly knew. When it came to children around his own age, he was somewhat shyer and a bit more awkward because there were more adults in his life. Before she could say anything else, they heard the front door open. They figured it was just Don, so they relaxed.  
"I left your dinner in the microwave. It's chili con carne, your favorite." They heard the microwave's distinct hum and the sound of Don rustling in the drawer for a spoon soon after.  
"So, what business did you have to attend to? Was it at the hospital?" A pause.  
"No, a friend needed a favor from me. A personal favor, so I can't share." That wasn't a lie. A friend did need him for something, but he wouldn't divulge what.  
  
Cassandra didn't question him any further, and he was thankful for that. What would she think if he let her know that the hospital was working with the mafia?

* * *

  
 _1 Tesla Court, Thursday, 8:40 P.M._  
  
It was official, Sandy needed to get out of this haunted house. Maybe even take the ghost with her.  
  
The Beakers had clothed her, fed her, and even let her stay there while she tried to get back on her feet. They even helped her get a small part time job. Of course, good things couldn't stay good.  
Every morning and night, Sandy could hear screaming and the sound of machines. Whenever she asked Loki or Circe about it, they simply brushed her off. She figured that it had something to do with that constantly locked door, and she became worried. What if someone was down there, hurt?  
Even though it frightened her, she wanted to help that hypothetical person. Isn't that what Bella would've wanted? She was a kind person who usually put others before herself, after all.  
  
Earlier today when the Beakers were at work, Sandy inspected the door. It had a keypad lock, and that only made her far more worried about what they were trying to keep inside. Against her better judgement, she went searching for that password. About an hour later, she had sucessfully found it in the Beakers' bedroom, and proceeded to write it down on a separate notecard. She wouldn't use it now, because she knew that the Beakers would be home any minute. She put everything back in its rightful place, and proceeded to go back to her own room.  
  
Something about this seemed _too_ easy, and she didn't like it.  
  
Was she even ready to solve the mystery of the screaming basement? If she were to run away again to search for Bella, they'd be none the wiser and the thing down there would never know she had heard it and thought about them.  
That didn't sit well with her, and she regretted it as soon as she thought it.  
  
Maybe Bella could wait. She'd probably understand the delay. Sandy had a new goal now, and she wouldn't let anyone get in the way. Not even more aliens or the Beakers themselves.


	32. Pleasant (7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally visit Veronaville outside of Capp Manor and Miranda's house!

_SimCity High, Friday, 9:06 A.M._  
  
Instead of Johnny and Ophelia, Dirk had met up with them and subsequently walked with them to the tree.  
  
The Capps, Johnny, and Ophelia were already waiting for them. The Capps seemed better today than yesterday, but something still seemed to be bugging them.   
"Hey. Is there anything happening in Pleasantview?" Hermia asked expectantly.  
"Yeah, actually. Cassandra and Don moved up their wedding date to this Sunday and invited the whole town. It's supposed to be Downtown in this swanky restuarant." Lilith said, picking at her nail polish.  
"I wonder why they moved it up? Next month would've been perfectly fine."  
"I dunno, we'll have to ask when we see her this weekend. Anything new with Strangetown? Or with that thing you found?"  
  
"There's rumors of a strange woman staying with the Beakers, but I haven't seen her myself." Ophelia said.  
"I heard about her too, but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her either. As for the tablet, I may be onto something.. but I can't confirm it just yet. Is there anything up with Veronaville? It seems that most things happen to you guys." Johnny inquired.  
"Yes, actually," Juliette said, dusting off her pleated skirt a little, "One of the Altos came by last night. He asked Consort if they could become business partners, and he agreed."  
"Oh yeah, Hermia told me about that!" Miranda piped up, "Weren't they gone for the whole night too?"  
"Yes. They're going to be gone today as well, and they're taking Tybalt as well since he's the heir."  
  
"Do you think we could go to your house then?" Lilith asked eagerly, "We've _never_ seen Veronaville or your house, and since your grandpa and brother are out.. they can't yell at us."  
"Um.." Juliette and Hermia shared a look, "Maybe not _our_ house specifically. They could come home early, but we can show you the rest of Veronaville though! Maybe we could hit up 431 Globe Street?"  
"Sounds good to me. But what's 431 Globe Street?"  
"It's this super cool arcade and game store!" Miranda said, grinning, "I've been meaning to pick up a new game for my handheld. Are you guys in?"  
  
"You know it." Lilith said as Angela and Dirk nodded.  
"Me and Johnny are gonna come too." Ophelia said.  
"I'll go too, but I dunno about Tank."  
"Might as well. I've got nothing else to do."  
"Then it's settled, we're all going to Veronaville for the day!" Lilith cheered.  
Juliette and Hermia still looked quite concerned. What if the Montys came by while they were at the the arcade? Sure, Tybalt wasn't present to pick any fights with them, but what if they were still bitter?  
  
They'd just have to wait and see.

* * *

  
_Veronaville, Friday, 3:08 P.M._  
  
This place was pretty medieval looking as far as buildings went. Not gonna lie, Lilith found that pretty cool.  
  
They weren't kidding about the place not being packed either. Miranda and Juliette pointed out their houses, the Altos' house, and the Summerdreams, and that was about it on the Capp side of town. Lilith genuinely thought they were joking about it.  
Despite that, it was a lovely place.  
  
They didn't go to the arcade right away, and that was fine. The Capps were simply showing them around the English part of town. A lot of the houses present were pretty tiny, but Lilith thought they were nice looking anyway. She'd like to live in Veronaville with Dirk someday if they could.  
"So, what about the other side of town?" Ophelia asked, turning back to look at Juliette and Miranda.  
"That's where the Montys stay." Miranda said, wiping off her shades, "We're not really allowed over there. Consort and their grandpa have this feud going on, so we're supposed to hate them."  
"Do you?" Ripp asked.  
"No. We don't care about a silly feud between our grandpas." Juliette said, "We plan on being the generation that breaks it, but Tybalt's making that a little hard. Whenever he sees them, he tries fighting them!"  
"That's a bit much, isn't it?" Johnny said, eyes still on the road.  
"Who're you telling? It's super embarassing too. They're the only other family with teenagers besides the Summerdreams. Puck's nice and all, but he's more of Hermia's friend than anything else."  
  
Finally, the car stopped in a parking lot next to Hermia's car. The building it belonged to was quite tiny for an arcade/game shop, but they stopped expecting a big building when they saw the houses here.  
As they all piled out of the cars and entered the arcade, Lilith stayed behind and watched as two more cars pulled in.  
In one, she could see a boy with red hair and some sort of face mask or face paint on. In the other, there was a tan boy with a black leather jacket and white shirt in the front seat. In the back of the second car, she recognized a girl she knew named Meadow Thayer. Next to her was a boy with a beanie and a red shirt.   
  
"Lilith, what's keeping you? C'mon!" Miranda called from inside. Lilith glanced at the cars once more before entering the building.  
It was pretty nice inside, honestly! The arcade had pinball, a Dance Dance Destination machine, and plenty of other games. To the far right, there was a game store and a place to redeem tickets for prizes. Pleasantview definitely didn't have a place like this, and she couldn't help but be a little jealous.  
  
"Capps, fancy seeing you guys here." She heard a voice say. She turned to the door, and the boy in the leather jacket from earlier was standing by the door. On either side of him was Meadow and that other boy.  
Hermia went up to the boy, seemingly sizing him up.. until she grinned and hugged him, "Hey, Mercutio! I thought you hated coming to this side of town?"  
"Oh, I do, but you guys have a an arcade and we don't. Plus, these two lovebirds wanted to come."  
Lilith could see Meadow covering her face with her hands in embarassment, and the boy with the beanie laughed awkwardly, "You, uh, don't have to share all of that."  
"I don't _have_ to, Romeo. But I _want_ to." Mercutio said, smirking, "Anyway, you gonna introduce us to your friends, Hermia?"  
"Oh, yeah! Right this way."  
  
And so Hermia pointed out everyone present to the Montys, Meadow, and the redhead boy (now known as Puck) who had just walked in. They seemed like a pleasant bunch, and Lilith was pretty interested in getting to know them.


	33. Caliente (7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina has a moment of realization, and Dina's being a slithery snake.

_170 Main Street, Friday, 3:20 P.M._  
  
Nina didn't know how to feel about the wedding announcement.  
  
On one hand, she was excited to hear about Cassandra getting married! On the other, she was pretty upset about _who_ she was marrying. She didn't have feelings for him anymore, but Don moved on too quickly.  
Unless... unless he was with Cassandra the whole time. There's no way Cassandra would marry someone she barely knew. Nina felt dumb.  
She wasn't even mad. Don kept cancelling dates on her in the past, and he kept making excuses whenever she saw him with Cassandra. The signs were right there in front of her, and she had ignored all of them in hopes of them not being true.  
Stupid, stupid, stupid.  
  
She wouldn't/couldn't just sit there and cry, however. She wouldn't be petty and ruin the wedding over her and Don's failed relationship. Yes, it stung like hell and it'd probably still feel that way after the wedding, but he probably only did it because he don't love her anymore either, right?  
Now he could be with the woman he truly loved. She could be with the man she truly loved.  
Nina couldn't help but wonder if he'd do the same thing with Cassandra? He wouldn't dare.  
  
She also thought about his relationship with her sister. They were classmates in school, but he prefered Dina over her. They even went to the same college! She knew that they had dated before she and Nina moved to Riverblossom Hills a few year back. She remembered that they still kept in touch up until they came back last week. Had they still been together at that point? Did Dina even know about the whole thing? She probably did, but based on experiences on the past, would she take it well?  
  
This bugged Nina all day especially while she went to purchase a dress for the wedding, and when she was walking Rocky. Dina was obviously invited to the wedding, but she was so hard to pinpoint these days it was hard to say how she would feel.  
  
She'd just have to find out this Sunday.

* * *

  
_165 Sim Lane, Friday, 3:40 P.M._  
  
No, Dina wasn't upset about the wedding. She helped orchestrate it, of course.  
  
But the plan had become slightly more complicated since yesterday. A woman from Strangetown named Circe wanted in on the plan. No one knew how she found out about it, but she did threaten to tell the police. Dina had an idea on how she found out and couldn't help but think it was a bad idea to bribe and seduce those scientists into calling those aliens...   
  
This didn't bother the Altos, however, and they simply rolled with it as they usually did. They found a doctor and scientist working with them to be quite beneficial, and that was understandable. After agreeing to work with them, Circe told them about the woman staying at their house. She looked a lot like Bella; but with subtle differences in the face. She called herself 'Sandy', and Loki had watched her crawl out from the crater left by the UFO, but before that he had seen some teenagers crowding around it. He recognized a few like the Strangetown teens, but the rest of them he didn't know. After describing them, the Altos decided to keep an eye on a few of them just in case. The brothers even moved to Veronaville to make it easier.  
'Sandy' claimed to be looking for Bella Goth, so the Beakees immediately invited her to stay for a while. They didn't really plan on letting her leave of course, but once their first test subject died she was next in line. They knew she wasn't related to Bella, but their similarities weren't just a coincidence. As seekers of knowledge, they needed to know why.  
  
Dina didn't really care about that because she had her own mission.  
  
She was to distract a certain General staying in Pleasantview from this case.  
Sure, Nina obviously had some sort of feelings and affection towards him, but tough luck. Dina had hoped that Nina herself would take his mind of off it for her so that she didn't have to swoop in, but that was just wishful thinking. She knew that Nina would spill the beans sooner or later to him, and she couldn't have that. Those two may have known each other for a while now, but not even the most stubborn man could resist her charms, as shown by Mortimer and Michael.  
  
That's why she left and went to visit while Mortimer took his afternoon nap. Checking her phone for the address a few times, she easily found her way to the house and knocked. It wasn't that bad looking, actually. She stopped looking around the yard as soon as she heard the door open. Lucky for her, it was the man she was looking for.  
"Hi, I'm Dina Caliente! I'm your neighbor and--"  
"I know who you are. Nina already told me about you." The man said. He looked quite uninterested.  
"Oh, well.. may I come in so we can officially meet each other? I want to meet the man my sister is dating!" The blonde batted her eyelashes much to the man's annoyance. He let her in, however, "You may. And for the record, Nina and I are not in a relationship." He moved to allow her entrance, but oddly enough he wasn't facing her anymore.  
  
Suddenly, she felt less guilty about the whole thing. If Nina wasn't actually with him, then this wasn't cheating and she didn't have any right to be angry with her.


	34. Capp (7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three Capp POVs for the price of one page with no paragraph breaks!

_431_ _Globe Street, Friday, 4:08 P.M._  
  
The Capps, Montys, and the others had been there about an hour at this point, and they were enjoying their time together.  
  
Juliette and Romeo in particular were hanging out with each other rather than with the larger groups. They weren't doing anything shady with each other, just catching up after all of these years without worrying about their families getting mad at them.  
"So, how'd you meet Meadow?" Juliette asked, leaning against the wall.  
"At this party. I had been on my way to get a drink, and there she was. She was like a beautiful neon tinted angel sent down from a party heaven.. We left the party early together, and the rest was history," He said dreamily. Juliette giggled, nudging him, "That's literally the cheesiest thing I've ever heard. And let me tell you, Ripp quoted Romeo and Juliet at me once."   
"He's just like me, y'know? We're both romantics at heart. Honestly though? I think Meadow's the love of my life." The redhead rolled her eyes, but she smiled anyway, "And what was I, chopped liver? I feel as if I'll never recover!"  
"Don't get me wrong, Jules; I love you, but only as a friend. Still, there's a small problem even though I do love Meadow with all of my heart."  
"What's up?"  
  
Romeo looked around for a second. Meadow was hanging out with Ripp, Dirk, Lilith, and Miranda so he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "I've been betrothed to some chick named Rosalind."  
"No! You too? I have to be with a guy named Paris, of all things."  
"Perks of being a rich kid, huh? I was thinking about running away to Desiderata Valley with Meadow as soon as we graduated. She said she was fine with running, but she doesn't know about the whole engagement thing."  
"I have yet to tell Ripp myself. It's never a good time to with everything going on, and technically I'm not even supposed to be speaking to him anymore."  
"Tell him tonight."  
"What?"  
"You heard me. Tell him to meet up with you somewhere tonight after everyone falls asleep, and then you can tell him there. I'm going to tell Meadow as soon as we get back to my house, in fact."  
"You know.. that's not a half bad idea. Now we'll truly complete the star crossed lovers theme, huh?" They laughed at this, and smiled at each other again. They completely missed the fact Ripp and Meadow were staring right at them now.  
  
  
Meanwhile, Hermia was holding a small blue rabbit plush that Mercutio had won for her at the claw machine. They watched as Puck chatted up a storm with Ophelia, Johnny, Tank, and Angela in amusement.  
"I wonder how he does it. I get that he wants to be popular, but he's usually pretty shy. " Hermia said, shifting her weight onto her leg.  
"I know, right? It's kinda impressive how quickly he changes at the drop of a hat." Hermia couldn't help but agree. She could feel Mercutio staring at her now, so she turned to face him, "What?"  
"I was wondering.. do you like anyone?"  
"That's a random question." Hermia said cooly despite her heart besting fast.  
"I know, but I'm curious. Does Miss Lone Wolf have feelings for someone?"  
Hermia raised her eyebrows at the question, but answered, "Yes, I do. Why do you ask? Are you hoping it's you?"  
  
Before Mercutio could respond to that, Puck had made his way over and slung his arm around Hermia's should, "Sorry for the wait, guys. Those Strangetown kids and that Pleasantview girl are pretty intetesting. What were you guys talking about?"  
"Yeah? Well, we're not talking about much." Hermia said, fiddling with the ears of her rabbit plush.  
"Oh, did you win that? What's your technique?" Before Hermia could correct him, Mercutio butt in quite smugly, "Actually, I won it for her." Puck's expression was hard to decipher. It seemed like a mix of shock, anger, and disappointment.  
"I bet I could win a better prize." He said, almost too quickly. Before Hermia could deescalate the conversation, the two boys were marching off to the claw machines. Hermia sighed and followed them. They were always trying to one up each other, and it got pretty tiresome.  
  
  
Miranda watched all of this unfold. With her shades on, no one could really tell what she was really feeling.  
She was feeling really sad.  
Mercutio was older than her, and he only saw her as a friend or perhaps an annoying younger sister. She didn't want that from him, however. He always fawned over Hermia along with Puck, but Miranda wanted to be the one for once.  
She wouldn't be bitter about it, no, but it did make her quite sad whenever she saw her cousin and Mercutio do coupley looking things together.   
She tried getting over him with Rick, but he often spoke of a girl named Violet. Naturally, she assumed that Violet was his girlfriend and that managed to make her sadder than Mercutio and Hermia. She couldn't explain why.  
  
Just because she was 15 didn't mean she couldn't fall in love like everyone else. They were all a year or two older than her, and she already knew of 3 couples in their group including her other cousin, Juliette. Truth be told, it stung just a little bit. No one liking her like that at the moment wasn't the end of the world, of course, but it sure felt like it sometimes. Maybe she was simply being dramatic.  
Before she could contemplate this a bit more, she could hear Dirk and Lilith calling her over to them. Plastering a smile on her face, she made her way over, "Yeah?"  
"Dirk had this great idea on how to get a ton of tickets fast." Lilith said, forming a huddle with the other two teens.  
  
You know, as much as Miranda wanted to wallow in her romance woes, she couldn't pass up the chance fot a scheme that would benefit everyone.


	35. Grunt (7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jill Smith appears finally! Also, relationship drama feat. Ripp and Juliette.
> 
> Tell me, is there anything you want to see happen in this fic?

_225 Main Street, Friday, 5:10 P.M._  
  
Jill Smith was officially a part of President Alexander's bodyguards, but Lucy and Buck thought that Alexander wanted her to be more.  
  
Johnny wasn't able to bring her over because he was with his friends, but her dad did. PT9 was a cool old man, and he played with the kids for a while before going inside to chat with Lucy's parents. Lucy and Buck had been watching Alexander and Jill for a while now. The black hair boy had been using his telescope with Jill to search for constellations for a while, and the other two kids couldn't help but gossip with each other.  
"Isn't he worried about cooties?" Lucy asked with genuine concern.  
"Nah. As government officials, we're immune to cooties." Buck explained.  
"So.. do you like, stop getting cooties when you join the White House?"  
"Yep! You see, the White House officially blocks out all forms of cooties. All you have to do is run through a sprinkler!"   
"I see! Our president's taken a liking to our new recruit."  
"Jill just has that effect on people. She's the nicest girl you'll ever meet besides yourself."  
  
"I have what effect on people?" Jill asked, approaching the duo with Alexander.  
"You can befriend literally everyone." Buck said in a matter-of-fact way.  
"Not everyone." As soon as Jill said that, Lucy stood up and gripped her shoulders. Because Jill was taller, Lucy had to stand on her tiptoes, "Don't sell yourself short like that! You can accept compliments, you know." In response, Jill gave the shorter girl an awkward smile and pat her on the shoulder. Buck proceeded to pull Lucy away.  
"So.." Alexander began, causing the other kids to look at him, "What do we do now?"  
  
They were all silent for a moment, until Jill approached Alexander. They stared at each other for a moment before she tapped him on the shoulder, "Tag, you're it."  
Pause. Then chaos erupted as Jill, Buck, and Lucy ran in opposite directions to avoid Alexander.  


* * *

  
_Capp Manor, Friday, 6:00 P.M._  
  
Ripp Grunt did not get jealous, and Ripp was not petty.  
  
Okay, maybe he was a bit jealous to see Juliette and Romeo joking and laughing like that, but he and Meadow knew that their significant others wouldn't cheat on them.  
Truth be told though, the two of them were worried when Juliette and Romeo mentioned that they had something important to tell them.   
That was hours ago. Johnny had taken the Pleasant twins, Tank, and Ophelia home by then and Hermia offered to drive him home too which he graciously accepted.  
Right now, he was waiting for Juliette to come back out. Consort and Tybalt had came home, so he couldn't come up to Juliette's room.   
  
Juliette had finally came out after about five minutes inside, and led Ripp to the side of the house. She pulled him down to sit by her and proceeded to rest her head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her.  
"So, you had something to tell me, right?" Juliette slowly nodded. She was silent for a moment, then she finally spoke, "You've noticed by now that we've never invited you guys to Veronaville until today, right?"  
"Yeah, of course. What's up with that?"  
"The Capps are not like other families. Besides the rivalry with the Montys, we're quite traditional. They choose who we befriend and talk to, where we attend school, sometimes who we date.."  
"What are you saying?" Juliette didn't respond, so Ripp slowly turned her head towards him, "I promise I won't get mad."  
  
Juliette was frowning now, and sighed, "Last week. The day you and I became boyfriend and girlfriend, Consort announced that we were betrothed." Ripp paused. Betrothed? She was engaged to someone else? He was frozen in shock, so Juliette continued, "I don't want to marry my future 'fiancé' though! I want to be with you. I want to be a dumb teenager and sneak out to the movies while everyone's asleep, curfew be damned. I can't even back out because this is expected of us to further the family's name.. even if Tybalt's the one inheriting."  
He finally held her close after she blurted this out, thinking about how he should respond. As much as he hated didn't want to say what he was thinking, he did, "If we can't be together and you can't get out.. well, I don't want you to get in trouble with your family."  
Juliette looked up at Ripp, horrified, "What...? Ripp, what are you--"  
He closed his eyes, cutting her off, "Jules, you know I love you. I don't want to see you hurt. What would your family do to you if they found out we were doing behind their backs?"  
"I-I don't know, but I'm willing to risk it for you!"  
"I don't want to you risk anything for me." He helped Juliette up, and she clinged to him like a lifeline.  
  
"We can't.. You're the one thing getting me through all this." He paused, looking down at Juliette. Her face was buried in his chest, and he could feel his shirt getting damp, "Please.. don't leave. I'll figure something out, just-- just wait, okay? I can fix this."  
"Are you sure-?"  
"Positive. I already lost Romeo, and I can't just lose you either. We'll keep our relationship lowkey around Consort and Tybalt but someday I promise we'll be able to tell them."  
Ripp was apprehensive at first, but Juliette had managed to convince him. Truth be told, he was still worried about her. She usually was a strong-willed girl as shown by her rebelling against her family when it came to romance, but even she broke down into tears when alone. When they finally parted from each other, her lip was trembling. Tears were still forming in her eyes, so he wiped them away and tried to smile for her. She tried returning it, but because she was still sad, it didn't reach her eyes.  
  
He had to go now, and Hermia was waiting for him in the car. He and Juliette didn't say goodbye, but their expressions said it all for them.  
Hermia seemed to want to question why they had such long faced, but she didn't say a word to him.  
  
The ride home was silent because of this, and unknown to any of the teens, Darius had been watching. Maybe it was creepy to stalk them, but he couldn't allow them to get any further in their investigation on Bella.


	36. Goth (8)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander's POV again, and Sandy finally finds out where the screaming comes from.  
> Who's your favorite character in the book so far?

_95 Woodland Drive, Friday, 9:50 P.M._  
  
Today wasn't so bad for once. No fighting, no stress, no worries.  
  
Alexander was supposed to be asleep because he claimed to be tired earlier, but now he felt pretty energized because he had so many thoughts bouncing in his head. Nothing bad, of course. As he stared up at the ceiling, he decided to go over his thoughts in his mind.  
He thought of his new friend, Jill Smith. She had been quite interested in his ramblings about the stars, unlike Lucy and Buck who had hung out together in the shade seemingly watching them. He loved his friends dearly, but it was nice to have some listen to him for once. She was happy to answer questions about her half alien family as well, and he had a lot of them. He found it to be cool that her father was a fullblooded alien, and how her older brother seemed to favor him more in looks. She even showed him the fact that she secretly had eyes in the the back of her head-- Literally.  
  
He also thought about the upcoming wedding on Sunday, and the effect it had on his family. Don seemed to be the main cause of some of the conflict, and he honestly felt neutral on the man. He saw his father's side of the story, but he also saw Cassandra's side. Don had been a flirt in the past, yes, but it also looked like he truly did care for his older sister and that made him happy. Don had tried bonding with him when he came home from Lucy's house earlier as well, in the form of sports.  
Now, Alexander wasn't particularly into that many sports. Things like football, basketball, or soccer wasn't his thing and Don knew that. So, as a surprise for when he got home, the man had set up croquet in the backyard for Alexander.  
  
Yes, Alexander loved croquet the most out of any other sport. Don had played with him too, even though he was no good at it. It was fun to teach him the ins and outs of it. His father was never really into croquet in the past, but he did play often golf with Alexander before he started to complain about his bad back.  
Today reminded him of that. He knew Cassandra had told Don to try and bond with him, but that wasn't a bad thing in his eyes. Don wasn't simply brushing him off as expected, and he seemed genuinely interested in what Alexander liked.  
  
Yes, Don was slowly gaining his approval.  
  
Alexander yawned, turning on his side. He was planning on finishing his copy of _Henry Puffter and the Inmate of Abrakazam_ tonight, but he ultimately decided against it. He was getting pretty tired now that he's gone through everything on his mind. But then again, having a staring contest with the ceiling is pretty tiring no matter how many glow in the dark stars you put on it.  
He could hear someone rustling in the kitchen, so his promptly shut his eyes and put his pillow over his head. Jeez, does they really have to be so loud to get a midnight snack?  
  
It turns out that yes, they did.

* * *

  
 _1 Tesla Court, Friday, 11:00 P.M._  
  
It was time to put her plan in action.  
  
Sandy had checked about three times to make sure the Beakers were asleep, and she checked the house earlier to make sure they wouldn't wake up and catch her. It may have been overkill, but she wanted to figure out the secret of the strange wails that plagued the house occasionally tonight.  
  
Slowly and silently, the black haired woman crept down the stairs with the door password clenched tightly in her hand. Once she approached the door, she stopped and listened for a while. Loki and Circe were still snoring away, and she was glad that the kitchen was near the door. If they woke up, she could pass it off as her grabbing a midnight snack.  
  
Glancing down at the password she had written, she punched it into the pin pad next to the door. She heard a small 'click' which proved that the password wasn't fake. She subtly propped the door open with a shoe, and paused for a moment.  
She was really doing this, huh? She took a deep breath and ran a hair through her short, recently cut hair then stepped into the dark.  
  
The presence of stairs indicated the fact that this was indeed a basement so she felt along the wall for a railing, which she held onto once she found it. Even through her socks she could feel the floor was cold, and she didn't like it.  
Once she reached the bottom, she stopped to let her eyes adjust to her surroundings.  
Instantly, her eyes were drawn to a human shaped lump on a cheap looking cot. She slowly stepped over to touch it, and as she did..  
  
A hand reached out to grab her.  
  
She was startled and nearly screamed, but the sight of brown eyes peering out from the blanket on the cot caused her to stop. Whoever it was finally sat up, revealing himself to be a twiggy man with a mohawk.  
"Who are you?" The man hissed, eyes narrowed, "Are you with the Beakers?"  
"My name is Sandy, and I'm just a guest. What are you doing down here?" The man let her go finally, deeming her as a non-threat.  
"They call me Nervous Subject. I don't think that's my actual name, but it's what I am."   
"Okay, Nervous.. why are you down here? The Beakers have plenty of room." Suddenly, Nervous grabbed Sandy by the shoulders and leaned in close.  
"The Beakers aren't who you think they are. I'm here because they run these painful experiments on me. Recently, they've been attempting the clone me or something, but it keeps going wrong."  
  
A million thoughts ran through her head upon learning this, but she had to ask, "Haven't you tried escaping?"  
"Of course. I never got far though, and that's why I'm down here." He said, having released her at thie point. His head was in his hands down, and he looked downright miserable. She knew what she had to do.  
"What if I helped you escape?" His head shot up at this.  
"What?  
"What if I helped you escape?"  
"How?"  
"I'll have to work out the details, but I think I can manage. You just need to hang in there, and tell me where I can take you."  
  
It sounded far too good to be true, and yet he was feeling hopeful, "You'd really help me?" She nodded, "Well, you can take me to the Curiouses. They're the only ones I trust in this town."  
"I'll seek them out tomorrow and let them know. If we're lucky, I can bust you out tomorrow night, and have you with them by then." The woman finally got up, and Nervous followed her shakily. She was about to ask him what he was doing, but he pulled her into a hug, "Thank you, Sandy. I really mean it."  
  
She simply pat his back in reply. After he let go of her and sat back on the cot, she went back upstairs and closed the basement door. At least one of the Beakers were awake because she could hear the upstairs faucet running, so she quickly made her way to the kitchen.  
  
She hoped that neither of them noticed she was missing while she spoke with Nervous.


	37. Pleasant (8)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A more Mary-Sue and Angela-centric chapter today! Mary-Sue part is shorter than Angela's, however.

_215 Sim Lane, Saturday, 12:30 P.M._  
  
Angela was alone in the house today, and that was fine by her.  
  
Lilith had went to go hang out with Dirk, and their mom had went to go get groceries. Since Angela had still been asleep when they both left, she wasn't able to go with either of them.  
She did have her own plans though. In the past, her father would always yell at her and Dustin whenever she brought him over. Once she stopped bringing him over, Daniel yelled at her for dating/befriending him. It got on her nerves, so she began to rebel against him like Lilith did. Of course, Lilith had more valid reasons than her to rebel against their parents, but even Angela faced pressure from them to fit their idea of the 'perfect' daughter unlike her sister. It was thanks to the efforts of Hermia Capp that she broke from that mindset and started carving her own path.  
  
Now that their father was gone and their mother had eased up on her significantly, Angela was free to make her own decisions. She made her way over to her computer and turned it on, opening a video chat program. Dustin had moved away to Champs Les Sims their freshman year, but they did at least manage to start a relationship in 6th grade. Obviously, they couldn't really have official dates or do anything too romantic, but it was nice while it lasted. They had kept in contact, but they haven't been able to chat too much because of the time difference. Since it was the weekend, he should be able to chat.  
  
Within minutes, the two of them were connected. It was night time there already and in the background she could see Beau playing with their youngest brother, Skip.  
"Bonsoir, Dustin! Comment allez-vous?" Thank god they agreed to take French 1 with each other in 8th grade.  
 _"Je vais bien, et toi?"_ He got better at speaking it since then as expected, but he did stutter a little while speaking. She switched back to English because it was far easier for the both of them, "French aside, what's up?"  
 _"Not much, not much. Mom and dad went out on a date tonight, and they said they were on their way home."_  
"I take it they're happy together then?"  
 _"Yeah, they're still all lovey dovey. Beau's got a little crush on someone too."_  
"Oh really? What's her name?"  
 _"Desdemona Capp, or something. She's this girl he met at the gala on Tuesday, and he's been enamoured ever since they danced."_  
"Oh, I know Dessie! She's my friend Miranda's little sister, and she's always talking about him too. Apparently she wants to elope with him...?"  
 _"Kids these days, huh? Betcha we weren't like this. But anyway, how's your parents? Daniel still hates me?"_  
  
"I'm pretty sure dad still hates you, but they're not together anymore." That was news to Dustin. He couldn't say he didn't see it coming, but..  
 _"What happened?"_  
"Cheated on mom with the maid," She said cooly, "Lil' and I watched them get thrown out in their undies, and they haven't spoken to any of us since then."  
Dustin whistled, _"Damn. Is Mary-Sue alright?"_  
"Yeah. I think she's secretly relieved though. Also, there's supposed to be a wedding tomorrow. Between Cassandra Goth and Don Lothario, oddly enough."  
 _"Lil' was telling me about that, actually. They're complete opposites though, so.."_  
  
They chatted like that for a while. Occasionally, Beau would join in the conversation. When Brandi and Malcolm came home, they joined in as well.  
You know, it was nice.

* * *

  
 _SimCity Supermarket, Saturday, 1:00 P.M._  
  
It had taken Mary-Sue a while to find the perfect groceries, but she managed.  
  
Today wasn't all bad and it wasn't all good either. The good part was that she had made a new friend while at the supermarket, but it wasn't exactly someone she'd usually speak to. His name was Lazlo Curious, and he was a scientist living in Strangetown. He and his brothers had been planning on moving to Pleasantview tonight because of the Bella Goth case. They only started speaking with each other because he helped her grab something from a high shelf and despite his scruffy and slackerish appearance, they had a pretty engaging conversation and had even exchanged numbers with each other   
  
Speaking of numbers, Daniel wouldn't stop blowing up her cellphone or the house phone, begging her to take him back. She, of course, never responded, but Angela and Lilith complained about this. Whenever he called them, he only focused on speaking to Mary-Sue. That's why they started to ignore his calls too.  
Anyway the bad part came while she was out in town. She went to buy the dresses that her daughters had picked out for Cassandra's wedding tomorrow, and happened to see Daniel and Kaylynn there, probably for Kaylynn. She was quick to purchase the dresses and leave in hopes of them not spotting her and trying to speak to her.  
Sadly, he did happen to see her based on the text she had just received from him. She groaned and smacked her forehead against the steering wheel in frustration because of it.  
  
What did she see in him in college anyway? He was nicer back then, she supposed, but look at where nice words got her. Maybe she shouldn't have rejected Jason O'Mackey's confession all of those years ago.


	38. Caliente (8)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina gets what she wants, and Dina is Dina.

_130 Sim Lane, Saturday, 1:20 P.M._  
  
Nina was still having a crisis about Don's marriage, but she wasn't just going to skip it.  
  
She would be staying the night over at Buzz's house because he had agreed to let her catch a ride with them. She had found a house and dog sitter for tomorrow as well, so she wasn't worried about Rocky.  
Buck was excited to hear that Nina would be staying over, and excitedly told her everything that had happened to him lately. Tank and Ripp were nowhere to be found, but since she could hear talking upstairs, she assumed they were having a little heart to heart.   
Buzz would work late tonight as usual, but this time was different. His team finally had a small lead on the Bella case, but he wasn't allowed to disclose much about it to her. Because of this, he had let her sleep in his bed so he could take the couch.  
  
That is, until she suggested they share the bed as a joke. She almost regretted asking that, but he was more amused if anything. He agreed to it, much to Nina's surprise. All she had to do was stay on her side of the bed, and he would stay on his side of the bed. It was simple enough, but the redhead was still pretty flustered afterwards.  
It wasn't the fact that she'd be sleeping in the same bed with a man, because she had done it before, but it was because it was with _him_ specifically. It almost reminded her of those fan stories she used to read as a teenager, and that was the scary part.  
But then again, in those stories it would be in a hotel or something else. And it'd _always,_ without fail, be on a snowy night where the leads had to cuddle together for warmth. No, it's silly to compare this instance to her old stories. It wasn't like that.  
  
Anyway, at the moment Nina was doing her hair for the wedding ahead of time in the bathroom while Buck watched from beside her in silence. Occasionally she would ask him to hand her something on the bathroom counter, like a pin or something, but otherwise it was silent. That is, until Buck asked her something.  
"Nina, are you and my dad dating?" It was an innocent question, but she couldn't help but stare at him curiously.  
"Why do you ask?" She finally replied, putting down the curling iron in her hand.  
"You two are always giving each other these looks, like the ones Ripp gives to his girlfriend, or the ones Tank gives to the girl he likes." Curse his perceptiveness.  
"We aren't. I've entertained the idea once or twice, but he doesn't seem particularly interested in a relationship." She held out an hand, indicating she wanted another pin for her hair, which Buck handed over, "You'd be surprised, actually. You know my dad doesn't normally express any interest in people, but you've changed that! Maybe you should ask him someday, just to be sure. It should be easy for adults to speak their mind!"  
  
You know, that made a lot of sense. But why was she taking relationship advice from an 11-year-old anyway?   


* * *

  
  
_165 Sim Lane, Saturday, 2:00 P.M._  
  
Dina needed to come up with a new plan of attack, that was for certain.  
  
Buzz Grunt just wasn't falling for her usual methods. He didn't express any interest in her, and he even asked her to leave!  
That made her mission harder. Maybe she really would have to rely on Nina for this? No, no. If she wants something done, she'll have to do it herself. Nina was too much of a goody-two-shoes for a scheme like this, and she'd probably mess something up too.  
Whatever. She'd come up with something for the wedding tomorrow or something. Mortimer was beginning to worry about the pacing, and she didn't need him asking questions.  
  
Speaking of Mortimer, he seemed to regret being with her ever since Cassandra left and announced her early wedding. She had came by earlier to grab the wedding stuff she left, and Mortimer had tried speaking to her then. Sadly, she ended up rebuffing his attempts and left just as quickly as she came. Mortimer would never admit it, but he cried because of it. Dina tried comforting him, but he pushed her away and requested for her to leave him be.  
Well, she knew when she wasn't wanted, and that's why she went over to Don and Cassandra's new house.  
  
She knew that Cassandra was still out trying on wedding dresses right now, so that's why she felt no shame in dropping in unannounced. Don had let her in, of course, and she was onto him like ants upon a picnic.  
"Don, has she suspected anything about us?"  
"Of course not, baby. I've been careful about us."  
"How about that nosy little brat?" Don winced at her 'brat' comment, and she rolled her eyes.  
" _Alexander_ doesn't know anything either. He's out with his friends Lucy, Buck, and Jill right now." He put special emphasis on Alexander's name for some reason Dina couldn't work out. She was slightly concerned about that, and frowned, "Remember your loyalities."  
"I know, know. Don't get attached, because they'll be gone soon." She smiled again despite his melancholy expression.  
  
"Good. Now, won't you indulge me once more?" Right after she said that, she pulled Don into a kiss and began pulling him to his and Cassandra's room for privacy. They completely missed the fact that the aforementioned kids had seen them through the window as they were walking up to the house.


	39. Capp (8)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia and Johnny get screentime, and we finally meet Juliette's "fiancé".

_101 Road to Nowhere, Saturday, 2:45 P.M._  
  
So, it had finally happened. Mercutio Monty had asked Hermia out on a date.  
  
Not gonna lie, that kinda stung Miranda. But she said nothing about it when Hermia had dropped Juliette off in the city to get a few of her clothing designs finalized, or when Hermia dropped Miranda off at Johnny's house so she could help decode the alien tablet they found.  
"...anda. Miranda!" Miranda jumped at the sound of Ophelia's voice, falling off Johnny's bed, "Oof.."  
"Did you hear what I asked?" The blonde asked, holding in her laughter.  
"Uh, sorry, no." The younger girl groaned, climbing back onto the bed. She felt lucky that Johnny was downstairs getting snacks for them, because she knew he'd never let her live this down.  
"I asked for the Alien-to-English dictionary. Is something wrong? This is the third time you've stared off into space today, and I'm worried." She asked, taking the book Miranda handed off to her.   
"Nothing, it's just a dumb Sophmore thing." Miranda said quickly. Clearly, Ophelia wasn't buying it. She put the dictionary on the desk, and moved to sit by Miranda on the bed.  
  
"It's not dumb if it's bugging you, Miranda. You can tell me anything." Miranda was tempted to do that, until Johnny came up with cookies and water, "Sorry for the delay. Mom had just baked cookies, and she wanted me to take some up with me. Did you find anything?"  
"Yeah, we did!" Miranda ignored Ophelia's pointed look and swiped some cookies from the platter, "We translated the name 'Lunar Lakes', is that meaningful?"  
"Yeah, actually!" Johnny said excitedly, putting the platter and water on his desk, "Lunar Lakes is the name of the colony most Pollination Technicians come from. They're more likely to abduct people, but sometimes said people stay there because the environments there are the same as they are here."  
"We also learned that they were specifically directed to take Bella rather than Don," Ophelia said, "Pretty odd, huh? Mentioned the SimCity Science center too."  
"Do you think this is enough info to tell the gang?" Miranda asked.  
  
"...No." Johnny said, "It is suspicious that they contacted them, but we still need to know more. Let's research a bit more, then compile our info. Maybe we could share it tomorrow? I don't know when the wedding ends though."  
The girls agreed with this, and soon got down to work again. Luckily, Mrs. Smith was too busy with her soap operas to keep checking in on the teens as they worked.  


* * *

  
_SimCity, Saturday, 3:05 P.M._  
  
Juliette had finished submitting her most recent designs for the company who had recently taken an interest in her work, and now she was waiting for Hermia to finish up her date so they could go home.  
  
She was simply hanging out in the mall, checking her messages and eating a crepe. It was nice, at least until a shadow fell over her phone. She looked up and froze in fear. The shadow belonged to the _last_ person she wanted to see. Henry Paris, the smuggest man you'd ever meet. Juliette hated everything about this man. His personality, the way he spoke, dressed, and looked. She scrambled to her feet, refusing a hug from him.  
"Now, now, dear. Is that anyway to treat your future husband?" He asked in that fake snobby voice.  
"What do you want, Paris?" Juliette asked in alarm. She was ready to bolt if needed, but the taller man was blocking her exit routes.  
"I was simply out and about with dear Demetrius and Helena when I saw you. Why didn't you tell me you were here?"  
"Maybe because we aren't obligated to hang out with each other? Or because I want a moment to myself for once?"   
"And miss out on seeing me, darling? I can't fathom the idea!" Paris reached for Juliette again, and she ducked underneath him.  
  
"I'll pass, thank you very much. Besides, I'm spoken for."  
"By who? You can't possibly be cheating on me." He said, holding in his anger.  
"Wouldn't you like to know? Besides, I _never_ agreed to dating you. I was with this person before I met you, and I love this person way more than you." With that Juliette flipped her hair and marched off before Paris could say anything else. He was far too egotistical for his own good. He had lots of money, big whoop! She didn't see how marrying him would help the Capp family at all. She couldn't help but wonder if Consort was punishing her for the whole Romeo thing.  
  
Too bad she couldn't fall back on her being the baby of the family anymore. It'd certainly help with something like her current situation.  
She'd be able to be with her family's rival, or what they call a 'peasant' without repercussions. Oh well, she'd just have to sneakily third wheel on Hermia's date for some peace and quiet.


	40. Grunt (8)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tank's being a good brother, and Alexander and the gang become the CIA.

_130 Sim Lane, Saturday, 5:10 P.M._  
  
For once in all the years that Ripp had been living, he was having a nice conversation with Tank.  
  
No teasing, no fighting, and no yelling. More surprisingly, it was Tank who initiated conversation after noticing how upset Ripp looked after Hermia dropped him off yesterday. It wasn't until after Buck and their father left earlier did he decide to do anything about it.  
Nina had fell asleep watching TV downstairs, so Tank took the opportunity to pull Ripp into his room despite the younger one's complaints.  
"Hey, what gives?" Ripp asked, allowing himself to be flung onto Tank's bed. He quickly sat up though, eyeing his brother suspiciously.  
"Just wanted to talk." Tank replied, sitting on his nearby swivel chair.  
"About what?"  
"How you've been feeling lately. I saw how you looked last night, and.. Buck, Angela, and Nina all say it's good to talk about our emotions."  
  
Ripp just stared blankly at the teen in front of him. Who was this kid, and what did he do with the _real_ Tank Grunt? First their father was being more lenient on them, and now Tank genuinely wanted to know if he was alright or not. No, he wasn't complaining about it at all, but it did come off as odd. Still though, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to leave until he shared how he was feeling.  
"Okay, well. Yesterday, I found out that my girlfriend isn't even supposed to be with me because her family's uptight."  
"But you're still together, right?"  
"Yeah, but we can't exactly be seen in public together."  
"True, but that means you can let loose as much as you like without being judged. Plus, you can treasure the rare moments you do get to show affection."  
  
As much as Ripp hated to admit it, his older brother had a point.  
  
"And when did you become such a love guru? That's my thing."  
"Uh, Angela. Who knew she was such a hopeless romantic? But this isn't about me. What else is bugging you?"  
"Sometimes, I feel like we're being watched. I know it's probably dumb, but-"  
"It's not dumb." Tank said quickly, "I thought I was going crazy too. Lately, whenever we all meet up somewhere, I just get the feeling someone's trailing behind us."  
"Yeah, me too! No one else seems to complain about it though, so I've been keeping it to myself. Besides, how could we bring it up to everyone without freaking them out?"  
"We can figure it out eventually. We're a pretty big group, so we _are_ bound to get a few stares whether we like it or not."  
  
Once again, Tank had a point.  
But Ripp couldn't help but feel that something sinister would happen soon. If not to him, then his family, friends, or anyone else.  


* * *

  
_Pleasantview, Saturday, 5:20_  
  
Buck had never seen Alexander so angry, and he was glad.  
  
They had been prepared to hang out at Alexander's new house for a while because he had recently started playing video games thanks to Don, but then they saw his sister's fiancé and enemy locking lips without shame through the window. They were disgusted at first because adults kissing is loud and gross, but they all became worried as soon as Alexander bolted in anger and despair.  
  
Now they were in the fields behind Lucy's house, trying to comfort Alexander and they had been at it for a few hours. They were in a small dogpile of hugs, because that's usually what made them feel better, and they knew that telling their parents would probably make it worse. To them, adults always blew things out of proportion.  
"I just can't believe he'd lie like this," Alexander rambled, "If Don and Dina wanted to be together, it'd be fine! But no. They had to kiss while they're in relationships with my sister and father."  
"This is a pretty scummy thing of 'em to do. Especially since one of 'em's gettin' married tomorrow." Jill said, sighing.  
"So, what are we gonna do?" Lucy asked.  
"Expose them, maybe?" Buck suggested, causing the other 3 to look over at him. He squirmed uncomfortably, "I mean.. I know the wedding is tomorrow, but we could at least tell Mr. Mortimer before it's too late."  
  
The children considered this for a moment.  
"You know, that could work," Alexander said, "We just need some good and undeniable proof that won't just make them brush us off."  
"I have a camera at home we could use. Sure, I typically use it for my short films, but.." Jill said, "We just need to find the right time to use it."  
"We can get the kids in Veronaville to help! It seems like they're always going shopping." Lucy exclaimed, "My friend Bottom Summerdream's always tagging along with her brother. She's bound to see something related to them."  
"I've swapped walkie talkies with Benedick, and I know Beatrice can listen in too." Buck said, earning a nod from Jill.  
"Hal and I started emailing each other. He and Desdemona can go wherever because their dad can take them places." Alexander finally said.  
You know, this group of junior sleuths weren't as organized or advanced as the teens, but they were determined to get justice for the Goths.  
Sure, they couldn't meet up with each other every day, but that didn't mean they couldn't work together.  
  
"So, is this it?" Jill asked, "We're really gonna give those two what-for?"  
"What for what?" Lucy asked, scratching her head.  
"What?" Great. Now Buck was lost.  
"She just means we're gonna give them the old one-two."  
Buck and Lucy blinked as Alexander and Jill gave each other highfives. Why did their friends turn into old English gentlemen? And why were they applauding each other for it?  
They'd probably never understand, and that's what bothered them.  
They loved their friends, but sometimes they were downright weird.


	41. Goth-Lothario (9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big wedding, and the big escape!  
> Should I start labelling the Goth chapters as 'Lothario' now? After all, Cassandra took Don's last name.

_SimCity, Sunday, 1:00 P.M._  
  
Today was the big day. The couple had already decided that they'd take Don's last name, much to Mortimer's displeasure.  
  
Right now, Mary-Sue Pleasant and Nina Caliente were helping Cassandra get ready for the wedding. Nina was doing her make up, while Mary-Sue fixed up the dress a little.  
"Are you nervous?" Nina asked, applying dark eyeshadow.  
"Extremely." Cassandra replied, eyes closed.  
"Are you sure that you want to marry him? Taking all the drama surrounding him into account.." Mary-Sue asked, straightening the woman's black veil out.  
"Yes, Mary-Sue. We've been over this. I like him, and Alexander does too, regardless of what father says."   
Mary-Sue and Nina shared a look, but shrugged. If this is what she truly wanted, so be it.  
  
Meanwhile, Mortimer Goth and Darren Dreamer were currently having a chat with Don in his dressing room. Of course, Don was already wearing his tuxedo, and he was prepared to go wait at the arch for Cassandra before they stopped him.  
"Don't get cold feet, Don. Cassandra's one of a kind." Darren said somewhat coldly. Don knew he was somewhat jealous and upset because of the wedding, and he couldn't help but feel a little smug.  
"Oh, I'm not. Cassandra and I love each other very much, and nothing can change that."  
"You'd better keep that in mind, Mr. Lothario. You won't like what'll happen if you break her heart." Then without another word, Mortimer went to go check on his daughter.  
"We should get going too." Darren said, "Cassandra should be ready soon, and I know that everyone's getting tired of waiting." Don agreed and exited the room with the bespectacled man.  
  
Once Don arrived at the altar after the officiant, the organ player began to play the Wedding March. He looked at the crowd, who had finally stopped talking. Dina and Alexander caught his eye in particular, with the latter glaring daggers at him in particular. This caused him to shift uncomfortably until the doors opened. First came Don's best man, Daniel Pleasant. Next, the bridesmaids (Nina, Kaylynn, Angela, Lilith, and Jennifer), the groomsmen (Buzz, Darren, Tank, Dirk, and John), and the matron of honor, Mary-Sue. After them, Lucy Burb sprinkled flowers as Alexander escorted her down with everyone else.  
Finally, Mortimer and Cassandra came down the aisle. Don could feel his jaw dropping at the sight of his bride, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. She was _that_ gorgeous.  
  
As soon as she made it down to them, the officiant began the typical speech, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Ms. Cassandra Goth and Mr. Don Lothario..."  
They could hear sobbing in the crowd now, but Cassandra and Don were focused on each other now. Cassandra was smiling so wide, he was afraid her face would break. It wasn't a quick speech, so they quickly said their vows and Alexander had handed off the rings.  
"Now, Ms. Cassandra, do you take Mr. Don as your lawfully wedded husband?"  
"I-I do!" She was nearly in tears herself at this point.  
"Mr. Don, do you take Ms. Cassandra as your lawfully wedded husband?" Don looked at Cassandra, and he knew exactly what he wanted to say.  
"I do."  
"If there are no objections..." The officiant paused for a moment in silence, "By the power vested in me, I pronounce you wife and husband. You may now kiss."  
And so they did. The cheers and congratulations were deafing, but as far as Don and Cassandra were concerned..  
  
They were the only two people in the world right now.  


* * *

  
_SimCity, Sunday, 1:30 P.M._  
  
The escape attempt was surprisingly simple and easy, and that's was scared Sandy.  
  
Circe and Loki had called earlier to tell her that they would be running late tonight, and that she could order anything she wanted for dinner.  
Of course, she had no intentions of staying. She had contacted the Curious brothers, and they'd be waiting for her and Nervous outside to take them to Pleasantview. She had packed the few things she had in her possession, and went to get Nervous from the basement. When she got there, she didn't even think he was alive anymore.  
  
She heard him screaming bloody murder this morning, but he looked worser than ever. His breathing was ragged, he was covered in soot, and he hardly move without moaning in pain. She wouldn't just leave him here to his fate, however. She carefully picked the man up and put him on her back, apologizing whenever complained about the pain. She moved carefully upstairs so that he didn't move on her back too much, and grabbed her bag. She closed the basement door behind her, and left through the front.  
True to their word, the Curious brothers were waiting for them. In the driver's seat was Lazlo, the passenger's seat was occupied by Vidcund, and in the back was Pascal and his alien son Tycho. She got Nervous situated in the middle and climbed in afterwards.  
  
"Thank you so much, everyone. If there's anything--"  
"It's fine, Sandy." Pascal said, "We're always happy to help Nervous. But I'm curious, how did you end up with the Beakers?"  
"Well.. I woke up in the desert, and they were the closest house. I'm just glad they took me in." Sandy explained. It wasn't _technically_ a lie, but she couldn't just come out and say she's a clone that was born last week, "Say, why are you moving to Pleasantview?"  
"Aliens." Vidcund said without missing a beat, "Aliens abducted a woman named Bella Goth, and we found it interesting. By the way, you do look a lot like her..."  
"I'm not Bella." She said quickly, "I'm just me, and me alone. Actually, I'm searching for her myself."  
  
The ride went silent after that, and Nervous had eventually calmed down a little. He could finally rest peacefully.  
Sandy jumped up as soon as they reached the city, "Drop me off here."  
"What? Why? You could come with us to Pleasantview if you wanted." Lazlo asked, unable turn his head.  
"I'm still searching for Bella, and there's nothing for me in Pleasantview. We'll meet again, I'm sure, but not anytime soon. Tell Nervous I said goodbye." Lazlo hesitated for a moment, before obliging. With that, Sandy allowed herself to get lost in the crowd.  
  
Her first stop was the Science Center, which she knew was by the beach based on what Loki said. She was planned on getting a job there because she once heard Loki telling Circe about the fact that they made contact with the aliens, and she knew that it would come in handy for what she was trying to do. She just needed to make sure that he didn't recognize her.


	42. Pleasant (9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter today! It focuses on Angela and Mary-Sue once more.

_SimCity, Sunday, 2:00 P.M._  
  
The wedding party was in full swing, and Angela was surprised to see Lilith in the middle of it all.  
  
At the moment, Angela was watching everyone else dance while she ate some wedding cake. Her cousin, Lucy Burb, was with her friends Alexander and Buck in a weird way that involved them twirling her back and forth between them.  
Mortimer and Cassandra were dancing together as well, and Angela couldn't help but notice Mortimer was in tears.  
Nina Caliente and Buzz Grunt were also dancing with each other, and she could see Ripp and Tank making faces at them from behind. And of course, in the middle of the dancefloor, was Lilith and Dirk doing an overly dramatic tango.  
  
"Hey, why aren't you dancing?" She heard a female voice ask, and she turned just in time to see Meadow Thayer pulling up a chair next to her.  
"I just don't feel like it at the moment, y'know? Besides, it's kinda nice to see dad freaking out over Lilith and Dirk. He's always wanted to see me and Dirk together, you know?"  
"Yeah, I've wondered why. Dirk and Lilith are good together. Anyway, is there _anyone_ you'd dance with?"  
"It's because I'm the 'good' twin and Dirk's a nice guy. He never approved of mine and Dustin's past relationship either. As for someone I'd dance with... maybe."  
"Oh, who? I promise I won't laugh!"  
"Hm.. him." Meadow turned to look where Angela was pointing, "Ripp? I didn't think he was your type.."  
"What? No! I'm pointing to Tank.!"  
  
Meadow was eagerly shaking Angela's arm now, grinning, "You should go talk to him then! Where's my confident Angela Pleasant?"  
"I dunno, Meadow. I don't think he's much of a dancer--" The blonde was pulling Angela out of her seat now, pushing her towards the boys, "Meadow, wait! I was going to do it eventually, I swear!" Alas, Angela's pleas fell on deaf ears. In no time at all, Angela was left with the Grunts while Meadow went to socialize with other people.  
"Angela, what a pleasant surprise! What's up?" Ripp asked.  
"First of all, no puns are allowed near me. Second of all, I came to ask Tank something."  
"Oh really now? I think I hear Lilith and Dirk calling me, actually." With that, Ripp hopped up to find the aforementioned teens and left Angela and Tank be.  
  
It was silent for a moment, until Tank spoke up, "So.. what did you need to ask me?"  
"Would you like to dance?" He stared up at her, "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but--"  
"Okay, yeah, let's dance. I'm glad you came to me first, honestly." He said, standing up and leading her to the dance floor. From the corner of her eye, Angela could see her dad staring at them with an unreadable expression. Because of this, she made her way to Lucy and her friends to avoid him. Once she deemed them safe, she rested her hand on Tank's shoulder, "Do you know how to waltz?" He shook his head, so she guided his hands to her waist, "Then follow my lead."  
  
And so he did. By watching the dancers around them, Tank was able to pick up on the dance quickly. As the song ended, he picked her up and spun her around. Of course, Angela wasn't expecting it, but she went with it anyway. Once the song ended, he put her down but he still held her in his arms.  
"Angela, I..." She silenced him for a moment, and leaned in close to him. He ended up doing the same.  
"Wow. Mind if I cut in? Or do you want to kiss first?" They jumped away from each other to see a smirking Lilith with her hands on her hips.  
"L-Lilith! We don't mind, nope! What do you need?" Angela said quickly, straightening herself.  
"Right. Well, in Miranda's words, 'Great Scott, we know why they took Bella'!"  
"Wait, they translated the tablet already?" Tank asked.  
"Yup! C'mon, Dirk and Ripp are waiting for us outside. That's where they'll tell us what they found." Angela and Tank shared a look as they allowed themselves to be dragged off by Lilith.  


* * *

  
Mary-Sue watched as her daughters and their friend left the room, somewhat confused.  
  
She was tempted to ask where they were going, but she knew they wouldn't tell her anything no matter how much she pried. They never tell her anything.  
That's what she sat at the table by herself, sipping on a Pink Moscato. She watched as Don and Cassandra danced their feet off, and she found herself smiling. Growing up, Cassandra was never really too popular when it came to dating, so it was nice to see her happy with someone for once.  
"That could be us on the floor, you know." She heard a familiar voice say.  
"Daniel, please go away. You made your choice when you went with Kaylynn."  
"No, Mary-Sue. I don't want Kaylynn, I want you."  
"Well, you should've thought about that before you had an affair for who knows how long?"  
"Can you blame me? You've neglected me for a while, and I missed you."  
  
Suddenly, Mary-Sue slammed her cup down in anger, getting close to Daniel's face, "Oh, so it's _my_ fault you couldn't keep it in your pants? I've been trying to catch up in my career after staying home with the girls for so many years!" People were beginning to stare, so Mary-Sue calmed down a little, "Look, I don't care about what you do anymore. Just don't blame _me_ for something _you_ decided to do." She began walking away, but Daniel grabbed her arm, "Mary, c'mon--"  
" _That's_ _Mary-Sue to you, Daniel._ There's nothing you can do or say that'll make me come back. The girls hate you, and I do too. And you know what? I can't believe I actually loved you once." She glared for a moment before yanking her arm from his hand. She marched off towards the women's bathroom, completely ignoring his kicked puppy look and how Kaylynn tried comforting him.  
  
Once she made it to the bathroom, she put her hands on the sink and stared into the mirror. If looks could kill, everyone including herself would be dead ten times over.  
She was eventually joined by Cassandra, who immediately tried comforting the woman despite her insisting that she was fine.  
You know, despite her gloomy appearance, Cassandra always knew how to make people feel better. This occasion was no different. After sitting in the bathroom for a while, Cassandra helped Mary-Sue fix her make up and led her out.  
  
Oddly enough, Daniel and Kaylynn were nowhere to be seen.


	43. Caliente (9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina tells Buzz what's up, and Dina's scheming again.  
> What do you think the Altos plan on doing to the teens?

_SimCity, Sunday, 2:20 P.M._  
  
The wedding was nice, actually! Unlike their regular lives, it wasn't full of drama.  
  
You know, ignoring the fact Mary-Sue looked ready to kill Daniel. She heard the woman call him out for cheating on her with a woman named Kaylynn, and she ran into the bathroom right after that. Cassandra had noticed, and threw Daniel and Kaylynn out of the wedding just as fast before going in after Mary-Sue.  
Nina noticed Don looked sad because of this, but she couldn't figure out why. He never mentioned knowing either of them, but then again; Daniel _is_ his best man.  
  
Nina came back to reality as a glass of champagne was placed in front of her. She looked up to see Buzz next to her, holding his own drink of something.  
"Hey. You looked upset for some reason. Thought you could use a drink or something."  
"Thanks. I guess I am a little down, but you can go back to the party."  
"Not without you. You listen to my problems, so I can listen to yours just as easily. I can't promise you good advice though." Well, it's the thought that counts.  
"I dunno. It's kinda dumb, but if you insist.. the groom, Don, is my ex." Buzz didn't say anything, so she continued, "The thing is, we broke up last Monday. The fact that he moved on so quickly and got married kinda hurt, especially he _never_ seemed interested in settling down with me. Sure, we fell out of love, but..." She took a sip of her drink, pausing when she felt Buzz trying to awkwardly rub her back, "What are you doing?"  
  
"People usually do this when they're comforting people, right..?"  
"Yes...? But I didn't exactly expect you to do that." He slowly retracted his arm, but she leaned into him as close as she could without falling, "It's working though."  
He cleared his throat, "Erm, right. Don. I do think it is suspicious that he's already marrying someone right after a breakup. It takes months, even years to consider it."  
"I know! Sure, sometimes quick relationships _can_ work out.. but I was pretty sure he was in love with Dina. I didn't even know he knew Cassandra that well."  
"It'd be hard not to know her, but I get what you mean. We know that he was at least acquainted with her mother, so they could've met that way."  
"Isn't it usually the other way around? You meet the person you're dating first, and then you meet their parents. Anyway, speaking of Bella.. I've actually got something to say about the night she disappeared. I saw a lot of it from the window."  
"I'd like to hear it, but why didn't you share it when we originally interrogated you?"  
  
She took a long sip of her champagne, looking to see where Dina and Don were. Dina was nowhere to be found, while Don was over with Cassandra, Mortimer, and Alexander taking pictures. She could finally share what was on her mind.  
"I heard Don and Bella yelling at each other. I couldn't make out any words, but Don in particular looked pissed off. When I looked out the window to see what was happening, he was sort of holding her against the railing by his telescope. He looked ready to push her off, but that's when the alien ship came and took her."  
"I see.. do you have any idea why Don would attack her like that? Or why the ship came for her and not him?"  
"I'm afraid not. Bella doesn't do anything that would cause her to have any enemies. But I do have to request one thing. Don't.. make the aliens who took her to be the sole bad guys, okay?"  
"I wasn't planning on it, but I do intend on sharing this story with my colleagues."  
"Do as you please, but keep me anonymous. It's for a good cause, but I'd rather not answer anymore questions."  
  
He agreed to change the subject.  
  
"You know, Nina.. you're one of a kind. Don doesn't know what he's missing."  
That honestly caught Nina off-guard, so she covered with up with another sip of her drink.  
"Thank you. You're something special too."  
  
She really meant it.  


* * *

  
Was it wrong to stalk the kids? Definitely. Did Dina care? Not really.  
  
She had heard one of the redheads, Lilith, mention her friends figuring out why Bella went missing. Then, one of the general's kids mentioned a tablet that was being translated. That's when Dina knew she had to listen in before it got too out of control. They had huddled into a corner in the lobby, so Dina decided to hide behind a nearby pillar to listen.  
  
_"Is everyone here?"_ She heard from a phone that Dirk Dreamer was holding, _"Good! Now, it's not completely accurate, but it's accurate enough. We had to change a few words so that the sentences made sense."_  
"That's fine!" One of the Pleasant twins, probably Angela, said, "Let's just hurry it up before our parents notice we're gone."  
_"Right! So basically, they were contacted by the Science Center that day, and they were told to go to Don Lothario's house at around 11 PM. They were specifically told to take a woman in red present, and they were to do whatever they wanted. They just couldn't bring her back to Earth. It doesn't elaborate on why she had to be gone, but they did detail their plans for her."_  
"Go on." Lilith was speaking now, and the voice that replied was different.  
_"They were taking her to a planet called Lunar Lakes, but before that, they had attempted to clone her for some reason. They succeeded, but the clone tried to escape while they were hovering over Strangetown, and that's where this tablet ends. It was cut off at the bottom, so we guess that the clone was successful."_  
  
Dina had heard enough. She stepped outside of the building, and called the Alto brothers.  
"Darius. Do you remember those kids the Beakers saw? Well, they've somehow managed to figure out what happened to Bella."  
_"What? How?"_  
"They climbed into the ship and found a tablet from one of the aliens. They somehow managed to translate it, but I don't know how they plan on getting Bella back."  
_"Still, we need to clean up any loose ends. My men will take care of them tonight, so don't worry."_  
"And what about your plan with Veronaville?"  
_"Don't worry. I've already gotten the support of the Capps, and Prospero got in contact with the Montys. Anyway, I must go now. We'll keep in touch, of course."_  
  
With that, Darius hung up.  
Dina knew exactly what Darius planned on doing to the kids, and she almost felt bad for them. Prospero and Don would've never agreed to this if they knew about it. She was glad they didn't.  
They'd soon learn that playing detective wasn't always a fun thing.


	44. Capp (9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teens start searching for Sandy, and we finally see the other Veronaville kids!  
> It's a shorter chapter this time, sadly.

_101 Road to Nowhere, Sunday, 2:40 P.M._  
  
They had finally cracked the code, and now they had to plan their next step.  
  
Their friends in Pleasantview had already been informed of the breakthrough, but they had to go back to the wedding now. They had also informed Juliette and Hermia back in Veronaville, who would be arriving shortly.   
As they went over the notes some more, they started having more questions than answers. Why would the Science Center contact the Lunar Lakes aliens to kidnap Bella? Why was she cloned? They'd have to figure it out later.  
  
For now, someone was knocking on the door, and Johnny went down to answer it. He came back up a few minutes later with Juliette and Hermia.  
"Sorry for the delay. Tybalt wouldn't stop grilling us." Hermia said, sitting at Johnny's desk.  
"It's cool, you didn't miss much." Ophelia said from her spot on the floor. Juliette went to sit next to her.  
"We just need to know what we're gonna do next!" Miranda said, tossing a stress ball and down, "We _did_ plan on bring Bella back, right? We need to contact those aliens, but we can't exactly waltz in there to use their machine."  
"Maybe we could find Bella's clone and she could help out? It's stupidly easy to get a job there, and she'd be able to do way more than us." Juliette suggested.  
  
"That could work," Johnny said, "If we could find her. We can go after school tomorrow, I guess?"  
"I think we should check out the city." Hermia said, "It's not crowded when we get out because people are usually at work. The clone could have a job too, but let's assume she's still searching for one."  
"That works for me." Miranda shrugged, "Hal and Desdemona are going with dad tomorrow."  
"We should tell the others and get their input before doing this. You know, just in case they have to do other stuff too." Ophelia said, and everyone agreed. They decided that Johnny would be the one to text everyone about the plan, since they deemed him the most organized.  
  
Now, they simply kicked back and relaxed. They felt like they were so close to solving this case now, yet it was still nerve-wracking. The adults hadn't suspected a thing. Or maybe they did, and they just weren't saying anything about it.  
Of course, sneaking around behind their backs like this was just asking for trouble. If something went wrong, their parents would never know.  
That the was the scary part.  
  
At least nothing too dangerous has happened to them so far. They knew they couldn't get cocky though. One wrong move and anyone could come after them.  


* * *

  
_Veronaville Children's Park, Sunday, 3:20 P.M._  
  
As much as Albany hated going over to the Monty side of town, he took his children and their guest to the park there. He made it a point to ignore Antonio Monty and his children.  
  
Of course, Hal, Desdemona, and Jill didn't care about that. They hung out with Benedick and Beatrice Monty and Bottom Summerdream without any problems.  
"So let me get this straight," Beatrice began, "This guy is cheating on your friend's older sister, and they got married today?"  
"Yup. We're supposed to be exposing him too. Mostly because the woman he cheated with is Cassandra's enemy." Jill said, pulling out the grass they were sitting on.  
"He sounds like a jerk." Bottom said, shaking her head, "Why marry someone if you're just gonna kiss someone else behind their back?"  
"Adults are weird, I can tell you that." Hal said, and all of the other children agreed.  
  
"So.. what exactly do we do?" Benedick asked, "We can't exactly stalk them, and none of us are supposed to be seen together."  
"Ooh, I can answer that!" Desdemona said in excitement. She handed out tiny disposable cameras to everyone, "Alexander told me and Hal last night! We carry these cameras around, and if we see a guy in a purple striped shirt and goatee kissing up on a girl that isn't Cassandra Goth, we take a picture."  
"So we're like private investigators then, right? Sounds exciting!" Beatrice cheered.  
"What if we get caught though?" Benedick asked, "Do we just run?"  
  
"Basically," Jill said, "But I did have something else to mention. Has anyone noticed the teens acting weird? Johnny and Ophelia are always sneaking around."  
"Now that you mention it.. Hermes, Jules, and Mira's always running around too. They never have time for us anymore!" Desdemona huffed.  
"I don't think Romeo hangs out with your siblings, but he did tell me, Mercutio, and Beatrice that he was planning on running away sometime."  
"What? Why? What about school?" Bottom asked.  
"He said he wanted to be free from our family's expectations. Can't really blame him, but he said he'd enroll wherever he runs off to."  
  
"Jeez. All that just to get away from your family?" Jill shook her head, "He could at least wait until this school year's over. I mean, it hasn't even been a month yet."  
"He's impulsive like that. We all tried changing his mind, but he's deadset on leaving."  
Before they could say anything else, their respective chaperones had decided it was time for them to leave. The kids had all said their goodbyes to their friends before leaving as fast as they could.  
As for Albany and Antonio? They somehow managed to befriend each other.


	45. Grunt (9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but have a little family bonding!  
> I do intend on trying to release another chapter later today to make up for it.

_130 Sim Lane, Sunday, 4:50 P.M._  
  
The wedding had ended, and everyone was on their way home.  
  
As soon as they came to their house, Nina passed out on Buzz's bed after removing her makeup and jewelry. They all decided to leave her be. Tank and Ripp went up to Ripp's room, while Buck and their dad watched TV downstairs together for once.  
"Some wedding, huh?" Ripp asked, throwing himself onto his bed and burying his face into his pillow.  
"Yeah, watching Angela and Lilith's dad get thrown out was weird." Tank replied, choosing to sit at Ripp's desk instead.  
"He was with some other woman too, and I know it wasn't their mom."  
"It is pretty strange, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Neither of them has said anything on the matter, so that woman could be anything to them."  
"You're probably right. I'm still curious though." Ripp said, finally rolling over, "What do you make of the stuff Ophelia and Johnny mentioned over the phone?"  
"I still have a bunch of questions, but I'll probably wait until school to ask. They'll probably have some more answers by then."  
  
"And since when did you start listening to my friends? I thought you hated them."  
Tank awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "They _do_ have all of the answers right now, don't they? Besides, I never really hated them."  
"Bullcrap. You always picked fights with Johnny, and you hated being in the general vicinity of Miranda, Ophelia, and Lilith."  
"...Okay, maybe I did dislike them a little. I'm over that now though."  
"Why did you hate them in the first place?"  
"Honestly? I was jealous. I know it's no excuse for being a total jerk to you guys, but I was always jealous that it was way easier for you to make friends than it was for me."  
"Huh. I didn't know you felt that way, honestly. I would've let you hang out with us if you just asked."  
"Yeah, yeah, I know that now. It was just easier to take it out on other things. Like we used to do as kids."  
  
"I remember that.. But it's nice to see you and dad so much more calm these days."  
"I agree. It's kinda weird for the both of us, honestly. I like it, though. People can actually approach me now."  
"Dad can finally hold a conversation without blowing a fuse too. He's actually tried hanging out with me and Buck too, but he's still pretty busy."  
"Yeah, I noticed that myself. I'm pretty sure they're downstairs watching a movie right now too."  
"Say, what if we went down and joined them for a bit? After we change out of these clothes, of course. It's been a while since it was the four of us doing something together."   
Tank was silent for a moment, then he quickly got up, "Last one there has to do fifty push-ups."  
  
Ripp had never gotten dressed or ran this fast in the past, yet here he was.  


* * *

  
Nina had woken up at this point, and joined Buck and Buzz on the living room couch with a large blanket. Buck was resting on Nina, while Nina was resting on Buzz.  
  
They paused the movie for a moment, hearing pounding footsteps upstairs. They turned to face the stairs, seeing Ripp and Tank hurrying down the stairs in their PJs.  
"You cheated, Ripp! You shoved me into the wall!"  
"No I didn't, sore loser! Now drop and give me fifty!" Ripp shouted in a stereotypical drill sergeant voice. With a groan of defeat, the seventeen-year-old dropped to the ground and did a few quick pushups while Ripp triumphantly made his way to the couch.  
"And what was all that about?" Buzz asked, raising a brow.  
"Tank and I had a bet where the last person downstairs had to do fifty push-ups. He claimed I cheated."  
"That's because you did." Tank said with a huff, finally sitting down on the end of the couch.  
"Me? Cheat? Why, I'd never!" Ripp laughed, earning him a dirty look from Tank.  
  
"Right... are you going to watch the movie with us?" Buck asked.  
"That's why we're down here. So, what're we watching tonight?"  
"Weather Control! We're still in the beginning scenes, so not much has happened, but I like it so far." With that, Buck went silent.  
"Sounds nice. I call dibs on picking the next movie then." Ripp declared, grabbing some of the blanket.  
"Then I get the pick after Ripp." Tank said, grabbing some blanket too.  
"We're not watching Saving Private Ryan again."  
"I wasn't gonna suggest that anyway!" Yes, yes he was. He felt offended that Ripp had called him out on it too. It's not his fault the movie was so good!  
  
Buzz shook his head, but smiled a tiny bit. He finally unpaused the movie, and everyone went silent after that so they could watch.  
They really wish they had popped popcorn before settling in, but it was far too late now. They were way too comfy to move at this point. You know, they kinda looked like a happy family like this.  
Not that they'd admit it or anyway. That'd just be silly!  
  
Their only regrets were that the boys had school in the morning, so they couldn't stay up so late.  
Maybe if they did, maybe they'd happen to see what went down in the neighborhood that night. Alas, they were out like lights and in their beds by the time 11:30 rolled in. They were none the wiser of what was transpiring.


	46. Goth-Lothario (10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how the plot thickens.

_95 Woodland Drive, Monday, 12:00 A.M._  
  
Don was still pleased about the wedding yesterday, but he had other things to worry about this morning.  
  
He silently climbed out of bed, careful not to wake up Cassandra. He got dressed in an all black getup, and slowly walked to the front door. He couldn't hear anything besides his own heavy breathing, so he opened the door and left the house. Too bad Alexander was on his way to the bathroom when Don left out.  
  
There was a black car in front of the house waiting for Don, so he got in on the passenger's side.  
"Who did the Boss want gone?" The man at the wheel asked, causing Don to take a deep breath. He was really against this, but..  
"Here, he wanted one of the Pleasant twins and Dirk Dreamer gone. In Strangetown, Ophelia Nigmos was to be taken care of. Finally, in Veronaville, Juliette Capp."  
"My men took care of the last two then. Show me how to get to the Pleasants and Dreamers."  
And so Don did. They went to the Pleasants first.  
"I'm pretty sure the twins sleep upstairs. Take Angela, she's in the pink room." The man in the driver's seat nodded taking a note out of his coat before entering the house. It took a few minutes, but the man came back down with a still sleeping Angela in his arms. He placed her down gently in the backseat before climbing back into the front seat. Don showed him the way to the Dreamers, and the man did the same for Dirk.  
  
"So, where are you supposed to be taking them?" Don asked uneasily.  
"Roaring Heights, where the boss' hideouts are. Mr. Darius wanted to interrogate them himself."  
"Was.. kidnapping them necessary?"  
"Yes. Darius is a busy man, and he didn't want to simply wait for an opportunity."  
"Why do we need to capture them anyway?"  
"Too nosy. Sticking their noses where noses don't belong, understand? The boss doesn't need junior sleuths ruining this plan."  
"Does Mr. Prospero know about this?"  
"Hell no. He'd never let us kidnap people. Actually, he still thinks they're trying to help Veronaville!"  
"Then what are they really doing?"  
"Darius suggested the plan so that he could get close enough to the Capp kids so he could watch them easier."  
  
At that point, Don had heard enough. He _didn't_ want those kids gone. Hell, he didn't even agree with these methods. He was fine with just stealing the Goth fortune with Dina. Sure, technically he got Bella kidnapped.. but these kids wanted to rescue her. It didn't seem like they wanted fame or a prize for it either. It felt wrong breaking into their houses to snatch them from their families. That's why he suggested Angela Pleasant and Juliette Capp. He knew their families would be searching for them as soon as they noticed they that they were gone.  
He was silent for the hour long drive to Roaring Heights. They had driven to one of the hideouts deep in the city, and they entered carrying the sleeping teens. There were still late night partygoers, but they were all too drunk to notice or stop what was happening. They had orders to take the teens down into the basement, and so that's where they took them. Ophelia Nigmos and Juliette Capp were already down there still asleep.  
  
"This feels wrong."  
"And? You're no saint either, Mr. Don Lothario. Now stop complaining, and I'll take you home."  
And so Don shut up, glancing back at the sleeping teens before his companion shut and locked the door. After another hour long drive, Don was home. Just like how the mafiosos snuck into the houses, he snuck in the same way. He could hear a small 'click' from something, but he ignored it and went straight to his and Cassandra's room. He got undressed and climbed back into bed, but he couldn't go to sleep that easily. He felt like scum.  
  
Maybe he was scum.

* * *

  
_SimCity Hotel, Monday, 2:30 A.M._  
  
Sandy couldn't sleep at all, but she never felt tired anyway.  
  
Tomorrow, she'd apply for a job at the science center. She had dyed her hair brown, tied it into a small ponytail, and even bought fake glasses just so Loki didn't recognize her when she got the job. She even had a fake name to go by; Polly Nomial.  
She hated the name 'Polly' honestly. But it was that, or something like Misty Waters. Besides, Polly Nomial sounded nerdy enough.  
  
She had already practiced what she was going to say tomorrow multiple times, and she believed she was ready to go. She knew Loki and Circe would blow up her phone asking where she was, but she had already disposed of said phone. She didn't need one right now anyway. Not when she didn't know anyone living in the city. She felt sorry for whoever picked up that cell and heard Loki yelling at them. It wasn't her problem anymore though, so she didn't feel _that_ bad about it.  
Anyway, she was laying back in her bed right now. She had worked on her logic and cooking all day so she could have an easier time getting promotions so that she could be on Loki's level ASAP.  
  
That, and she _really_ didn't want them poking and prodding at her as a test subject. When it happened to Nervous, he was in constant pain and agony, and Sandy didn't want that for herself. Of course, if push came shove.. she'd just have to suck it up and deal with it. She was nervous, honestly.  
All she wanted was to contact the aliens again, and she refused to break into the Science Center to do it. She knew she wasn't a criminal, and yet she did feel the urge to break in and contact them just to get it over with.  
  
No, no. Baby steps. If that plan failed, and Sandy went to prison over it, it might be too late to save Bella. Instead, she turned around to try and get some sleep. She had a big day ahead of her, and it was already close to 3 AM. It was still slightly difficult to fall asleep, but she managed. You know, ignoring the fact that she woke up a few time in the middle of the night.  
Was Bella a light sleeper too? Was that something a clone could inherit?


	47. Pleasant (10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teens are ready for action, and have a little Dirk screentime!
> 
> Also, I'm sad to say that this book will be ending sometime soon. But worry not, I'm working on a sequel with a brand new cast of characters! If you'd like to see this group again sometime, then just let me know.

_SimCity High, Monday, 9:08 A.M._  
  
It wasn't until they were halfway to school did Lilith realize Angela and Dirk weren't on the bus, and the Grunts noticed too.  
  
When they got to school, their group was somber. Juliette and Ophelia weren't present, and as soon as Hermia saw them, she gasped.  
"Ripp...? Aren't you supposed to be with Juliette?"  
"Why would I be? I haven't seen her in person since last Friday."  
"Juliette wasn't up as early as she usually was, so I went to check on her. Turns out, she wasn't even in her room. She left a note behind saying that she ran away with you, Ripp."  
"I'm sorry, Hermia, but I really haven't seen her. We've never discussed running away either, so.."  
That did nothing to calm Hermia and Miranda's nerves.  
"I noticed Angela and Dirk was gone too." Lilith said, diverting attention from Ripp, "She's usually up right after mom, but she wasn't. I didn't get a chance to check on her because the bus was already outside. As for Dirk, I just assumed he was too sick to text me."  
"I thought that about Ophelia too, but it just didn't seem right. Now that we know _four_ of our friends have disappeared without a trace.." The group went silent.  
  
"So four of our loved ones went missing. What are we gonna do about it?" Miranda asked, looking around everyone, "I hope we weren't planning on sitting on our asses and twiddling our thumbs?"  
"No, but what can we do? We don't know why they're gone, and where they went." Tank pointed out.  
"And? It's no different than us looking for Bella and her clone. We don't have any leads on the clone, and yet here we are. I don't know about you guys, but I want to look for our friends too."  
"She does have a point.. I bet they'd look for us too if we went missing." Lilith said, "But how do you think we should go about it?"  
"We go missing too." Everyone stared blankly at her, "Look, say that something sinister happened to them. They got kidnapped or something. What if any of us go missing next? It feels like that our group specifically is being targetted. Why didn't they go after Meadow? Or Tybalt, Romeo, Puck, and Mercutio?"  
"I can see where you're coming from, Miranda. But when and where would we get the chance to run away too?" Hermia asked.  
"Tonight. Under the cover of dark. We should split up into two teams of three as well. One to look for our friends, and one to find the clone."  
  
"That's not a bad idea. Have you been thinking about this for some time?" Johnny asked.  
"Honestly? Yeah. I thought about it when I realized it'd probably start getting more dangerous."  
"I thought so too. Not the running away part, however. Anyway, I want to look for the clone."  
"I'm going after my sister and our friends." Lilith said in determination."  
"I'm coming with Lilith." Tank said.  
"I plan on going with Johnny, in that case." Ripp said.  
"I'm going with Lilith and Tank then." Miranda said firmly, daring Hermia to disagree. The girl was silent for a moment, but then she nodded, "Then I'm with Ripp and Johnny. Stay frosty, everyone." Tank and Ripp looked at Hermia for a moment.  
Who knew she knew military jargon?  
  
Well, now that they knew what they were doing, they managed calm down a bit. Whenever asked, they said that their friends were sick. All of that aside, school wasn't so bad! It was when they got home did the trouble start.  
  
When Lilith got home, her mother and Mr. Darren Dreamer was waiting for her on the couch.  
"Lilith, sit. How was your day?" Mary-Sue asked as Lilith made her way to the living room chair.  
"It was fine.. what's this about?" She already knew, however.  
"No need to panic. We just want to know if you've seen Dirk or Angela. The school called and said that they weren't there, and Dirk wasn't in his bed when I woke him up for school." Darren said. He didn't look angry at all, but he never got angry anyway.  
"I'm sorry, I haven't. I honestly thought Dirk was at home, sick."  
"And what about Angela?" Mary-Sue said sharply.  
"I was going to check on her, I swear. The bus came early, so I couldn't." She looked at her mom, moving away as far as she could, causing her to sigh and stand up.  
  
"I'm sorry. Just.. go up to your room, okay? I'm going to go call the police so they can help search."  
Lilith was more than willing to get out. She ran up the stairs, grabbing an old, black backpack from her closet. She put some clothes, her money, and her phone charger in it. She promptly shoved the bag under her bed, and pushed a coat and hat under there too.  
Now, the waiting game.  


* * *

  
_???, Monday, ???_  
  
Angela had been up for a while now, but it still felt like she had been dreaming.  
  
When she woke up, she immediately noted that she was on carpet instead of her bed. Next, she noticed that Ophelia, Juliette, and Dirk were around her. Dirk was the only other person awake, so she dragged herself over to him.  
"What's going on? What is this place?"  
"I dunno, and I dunno. Juliette woke up earlier, but I think she passed out in fear." They jumped when they heard the door open, some stairs creaking, and they both looked over to see a man in a suit.  
"I see that you two are finally awake. I'm sure you know why you're here."  
"Who are you? And we really _don't_ know why we're here." Dirk said, eyes narrowing.  
"If you must know, I am Darius Alto. You're here because you stuck your noses where they didn't belong. Hopefully this is enough to get your little friends off our asses. If not, we have our ways."  
"What do you mean we stuck our noses where they didn't belong?"  
"You'll have to figure it out on your own. Now, when your little cohorts wake up, I'll be back." With that, the man left.  
  
Dirk was silent for a moment, but then he buried his face into his hand. Angela came up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, don't worry."  
"Angela, it doesn't work like that."  
"Sorry.. I was just trying to stay optimistic."  
"That's fine, I guess. But what're we gonna do? The Capp's supposed ally kidnapped us all, and we don't know where we are."  
"We'll figure something out, I'm sure of it. We just need to keep track of our surroundings." With that, the teens got up and began to search the room, careful not to wake up Ophelia and Juliette.  
The room was well lit and very spacious. In all honesty, it looked like a living room of sorts without a TV or a phone. There were small window near the ceiling, so Dirk lifted Angela up so she could look through them all.  
"Well, what did you see?" He asked, putting her down.  
"We're in a city, but not SimCity. The buildings look completely different, and it looks like everyone stepped out of the 1920s!"  
  
Dirk honestly had no reply to that. He hardly ever left Pleasantview or SimCity for that matter. Sure, he lived in Lucky Palms for a while, but he didn't remember it that well because he was a toddler back then.  
On the other hand, Angela did sometime leave the city.. but only on vacation. They never visited a place like this before, so she was lost as well. Maybe Ophelia or Juliette would know?  
All they had to do was wait for them to finally wake up, which could take awhile. They didn't know if the girls were light sleepers or not, so they simply sat and waited.


	48. Caliente (10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina is chilling with Buck as usual, and Dina meets a certain someone.

_130 Sim Lane, Monday, 3:08 P.M._  
  
Nina had came over to the Grunts' house after work, but this time she had brought Rocky with her.  
  
While Buck played with the dog, Nina noticed how distraught Tank and Ripp looked while doing their homework. Of course, she approached them to try and figure out what was wrong.  
"Hello, boys. How was school?"  
"School was fine, Miss Nina. Why do you ask?" Tank said, packing his homework away.  
"You don't have to call me 'Miss'. Just Nina is fine! I was asking because you two look pretty upset about something."  
"We're not upset," Ripp said quickly, putting his homework away too, "Just swamped with homework, y'know? Now if you'll excuse us, we're going up to our rooms." Before she could say anythings else, the teens ran upstairs and to their respective rooms.  
"Goodbye, I guess...?" Nina said in confusion, walking back to the couch with Buck.  
"Sorry about them," Buck apologized, holding a sleeping Rocky, "They've been sneaking around lately for some reason. Whenever I ask, they tell me that I'll understand later."  
"Sounds weird to tell you the truth. I know that they're good, but I can't help but worry about them."  
"I know how you feel! Maybe I'll ask them again tomorrow or something.." With that, Buck picked up Rocky and put him down on the floor, "Hey, can you take me to Lucy's house today?"  
"I can, but why?"  
"It's her birthday, so.." Suddenly, he seemed pretty embarassed for some reason, "I got her a present on Saturday, and I wanna take it to her."  
  
Aww, how sweet! How could she refuse him?  
"Yeah, grab your present and let's go." Buck hopped up, grabbing a large, pink and sparkly princess bag from the side of the couch. How long had he been planning on asking her to take him? Eh, it didn't really matter. Buck was already outside waiting for her, so she got up and exited behind him.  
As she walked him over to the Burbs, Nina couldn't stop thinking about Ripp and Tank. Something _was_ bugging them, and she knew school wasn't the problem. She couldn't and wouldn't just force them to tell her either because it wasn't her place, but she didn't want to see her boys sad anymore.  
  
And so, she decided to ask them what the problem was tomorrow like Buck would. If they told her, they told her. If they didn't, they didn't.

* * *

  
 _SimCity, Monday, 3:25 P.M._  
  
So, Darius' plan had succeeded. Angela, Dirk, Ophelia, and Juliette were gone.  
  
Dina couldn't help but question why he took the young Capp girl, seeing as he did business with her grandfather. When she asked, he ignored the question and assigned her something else to do.  
She was to hunt down Bella Goth's clone, who had seemingly named herself 'Sandy'. The woman had escaped the Beakers with their test subject, and they definitely weren't anywhere near Strangetown. She tried asking the new residents from Strangetown, the Curious brothers, if they saw anything. They only gave her cryptic answers, so she just left them be.  
  
She went into the city to begin her search, and so far there wasn't any leads. That is, until she saw a woman in purple approaching her fast. Her hair was short and brown and she wore these ugly thick glasses, but Dina couldn't ignore the fact her face was remarkably similar to Bella's. She approached the woman.  
"Hello, can I have a minute of your time?" She asked. The woman seemed pretty annoyed, but she stopped, "Please make it quick. I have a job to get to at the Science Center." Dina noted that this woman's voice was pretty identical to Bella's, but somewhat deeper.  
"Are you familiar with Bella Goth?"  
"Who isn't at this point? Why do you ask?"  
"Well, apparently she has an identical twin or imposter! You kinda look like her, so I thought.." The woman's eyes widened a little upon hearing this, and she stuttered a little.  
"W-Whatever you think is incorrect. My name is Polly Nomial, and any resemblance to Bella Goth is purely coincidential. Now, goodbye!" And just like that, the woman hurried away.  
  
Dina watched her leave, and decided to call Darius again.  
"Darius, are you there?"  
 _"Yes, I was just about to ask those teenagers what they knew about Bella. What is it?"_  
"Tell Loki to keep an eye on a woman named Polly Nomial. She looks a lot like Bella, but she's altered her appearance a lot. She also said she works at the Science Center."  
 _"Noted. I'll definitely be sure to tell him. Now, please come to Roaring Heights. I need to see you in person."_  
"On my way." Dina hung up, and went to go catch a taxi to Roaring Heights. Mortimer was taking his daily nap right about now, so he probably wouldn't question her being gone.  
She couldn't help but wonder what Darius needed to tell her. She knew it was important because he wanted to see her personally, but she couldn't guess why.  
  
Maybe he needed help with the teenagers? That had to be it. He wouldn't talk about that while she was out in public.


	49. Capp (10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Capps are not being rational, and Juliette has a small run in with everyone's favorite Caliente!

_Capp Manor, Monday, 3:50 P.M._  
  
When Hermia and Miranda finally came home, they weren't expecting a family reunion. Scratch that; they kinda were.  
  
They were bombarded with question after question from the adults, and they never got a chance to answer any of them before another question was yelled out.  
"Did you know that Juliette had been gone all day?" Regan asked calmly.  
"You told me she was _sick,_ Hermia." Tybalt practically spat at her in an accusatory tone of voice.  
"Why didn't either of you tell us Juliette was missing?" Goneril asked, wringing her hands and pacing.  
Hermia and Miranda were overwhelmed. Everyone was talking over each other until-- until Consort came down, clutching a piece of paper familiar to Hermia.  
"I found this letter addressed to everyone in Juliette's room."  
"Well? Go on and read it. Hermia and Miranda are useless." Goneril said sharply. Both girls winced upon hearing their aunt/mom call them useless. They were aware of her being stressed about Juliette, but that was just uncalled for.  
  
"Certainly." Consort said, clearing his throat and straightening out the paper, "It says: Dear everyone, by the time you are reading this, I'm already long gone. I don't want to be with Paris, and you can't make me. I've discussed it with Ripp, and he agreed to run away with me. Don't bother looking for us either, because we're never coming back. Signed, Juliette."  
Silence washed over the family as Hermia and Miranda shared a look.  
"Hermia, Miranda. Who is Ripp? What is he to her?" Regan asked.  
"I... he..." Hermia began. Miranda grabbed her arm, shaking her head. He wasn't a part of this. They couldn't throw him under the bus. "For god's sake, just tell us Hermia! This is for Juliette!" Tybalt yelled. For once in her teenage years, Hermia was on the brink of tears.  
"He.. he's Juliette's boyfriend, okay? But she's not with him, I swear! We saw him at school today, and they haven't seen each other since Friday!" She blurted out, but the damage had already been done.  
  
Tybalt laughed dryly, "I knew it. I knew there was something between those two. I'm going to kill him."  
"No, he's innocent!" Miranda said, frantically, "He's worried about her too!"  
"But they aren't supposed to be together in the first place." Consort said calmly, "Come, everyone. Let's go pay this 'Ripp' a small visit. Hermia, you tell us where to go. Miranda stays with Desdemona, Hal, and Ariel." Without another word, Consort, Tybalt, and everyone else exited the house.  
"This is all messed up." Hermia said guiltily, "I shouldn't have said anything."  
"Don't blame yourself for it. You know they have other methods of figuring it out." Miranda replied in an attempt to comfort her, "I'm going to warn him, so just stay calm. I'm going to pack our stuff for the trip too, alright?" Without waiting for a reply, Miranda ran upstairs to the bedrooms.  
"Yeah.. alright. See you later." Hermia said glumly, exiting the house. Her family was waiting for her.. but so were the Altos and the Montys.  
  
What was going on?  


* * *

  
_???, Monday, ???_  
  
Juliette and Ophelia were the last ones to wake up, but Ophelia was the calmer one of the two.  
  
Actually, Juliette burst into tears when they woke up, and Ophelia was the one to calm her down seeing as she was the only other person present. She could see two other blankets and pillows however, so that led her to believe that there were two other people who were supposed to be down with them.  
"Ophelia.."   
"Yeah, Jules?"  
"Who do you think those extra blanket and pillows belong to?"  
"I couldn't tell you. We should probably look around for some escape routes though."  
"I agree." They got up from the floor at this point, and Juliette nearly laughed at the fact that they were both still in their PJs. Their kidnappers couldn't even bring a change otf clothes for them.  
  
"Hey, check out these windows." Ophelia said from across the room. Juliette hurried over the blonde's spot, but she couldn't really see through the high windows.  
"Give me a boost, please." And so the blonde did. She lifted Juliette up by the waist. She seemed to be struggling a little, so Juliette quickly scanned what was on the street. Suddenly, Ophelia put her down and stretched her arms.  
"I know where we are, Ophelia." The blonde paused.  
"Wait, really?"  
"This is Roaring Heights. My family usually vacations here during the summer, and I can recognize those buildings and fashion anywhere. That being said, I can't really tell what street this is.."  
Before Ophelia could say anything else, they could hear a door open and some wood creaking. That's when they saw their frienda being led down by a burly man in a pinstripe suit. Just like the ones Darius and Prospero wore.  
  
"You're awake!" Angela exclaimed happily, running to give Juliette a hug. Dirk followed after Angela, and gave Ophelia a fist bump. Sadly, their reunion was cut short when the man in the pinstripe suit yanked Juliette and Ophelia away from their friends. They prepared to protest, but paused upon seeing a gun in the holster against his hip.  
They let themselves be dragged down a long, wooden hallway and past a couple a doors. One of them was halfway open, and the girls could see that this building was a store of some sort. Maybe that'd come in handy somehow.   
But for now, they'd have to sit still and wait for an opportunity. Ophelia was pushed into a room on the left, and Juliette was pushed into the room at the very end of the hall. When this was done, the guard stood outside as a guard.  
  
This room was very expensive and very red. Quality looking furniture was everywhere, and directly in front of her was a mahogany desk and leather chair facing the wall behind it.  
"You may sit." A feminine voice said. Juliette took a seat, and the person in the chair spun around to face her. Straight, blonde hair, tan skin, and a little black dress..  
"Aren't you Dina?"  
"You've heard of me?"  
"Vaguely. What are you doing here anyway?"  
"Well, I'm here to talk to you about something. Answer my questions truthfully, okay? First question. Why did you decide to look for Bella Goth?"  
"Why wouldn't we? She's a kind person, and we wanted to know why she was taken instead of Don."  
"I see. Were you aware that Bella has a clone?"  
"...No." She was lying through her teeth. It seems that it came easy to her considering how many lies she's told her family these past days.  
"Oh really? I don't believe you."  
"Well, it's the truth."  
  
Dina got up from the chair making her way towards Juliette. The redhead gulped when Dina placed her hand on her shoulder. It was far too close to her throat for comfort.  
"Are you sure you're not lying, Miss Capp? If you are, I'm not afraid to spill a little blood."  
Juliette couldn't face the woman at this point, but she still tried to be brave.  
"Are you afraid of death, Miss Capp?" The blonde asked softly. Juliette was afraid, but she quickly shook her head.  
"I see.. well, you're dismissed for now." She said, moving away from the teen.   
Juliette quickly and shakily shot up from her chair, and exited the room. The guard was still there, so they waited for Ophelia in silence.  
  
It was then that Juliette Capp decided that she hated Dina Caliente. She was sure that the blonde would strangle or slit her throat right there.  
What did Don and Michael see in her anyway?


	50. Grunt (10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, Altos! The teens are coming for you!
> 
> Also, I can't believe I've written 50 chapters already! I feel accomplished.

_130 Sim Lane, Monday, 4:25 P.M._  
  
When your girlfriend's angry family, allies, and enemies come knocking at your door, you just gotta face it like a man.  
  
That's exactly what Ripp was doing. He and Tank had just finished packing for their journey when Miranda texted him to warn him about her family coming for his head. He had an idea on why they were coming too, based on the note Hermia mentioned this morning. It was still nice to have his friends watching his back however, and he didn't harbor any hard feelings towards Hermia for telling her family either because she didn't have a choice.  
He was glad that Nina, Buck, and his dad were out today, because he really did not want them getting involved with this. If push came to shove, Tank was upstairs as backup.  
Ripp waited patiently on the couch for the Capps to arrive, and soon enough he heard someone banging on the front door. That must be them.  
  
Ripp hopped up from his seat, opening the door. In front of him was a redhead teen he knew as Tybalt. Behind him was an old man he guessed was Consort, and a brown haired woman he knew as Miranda's mom, Goneril. He could see Mercutio and Romeo standing next to an old man in a yellow shirt and suspenders. In the very back was Hermia, looking extremely guilty, and two men wearing pinstripe suits.  
Before Ripp could greet any of them, Tybalt and the others barged into the house like they owned it.  
"Where is he?!" Tybalt growled, cracking his knuckles.  
"Where's who?" Ripp asked casually as he leaned against the wall. He knew exactly who they wanted, but.. "Maybe if you asked, I could help you."  
Tybalt glared at him for a moment, but answered, "Ripp Grunt. Hermia told us he lived here."  
"Well, what if I told you that you're talking to him right now?"  
  
Pause. Then Ripp felt himself get lifted up into the air by his shirt, courtesy of Tybalt. He wasn't that scared, to tell you truth. After all, Tank did this to him all the time when they were kids. Ripp knew it'd be pretty difficult for Tybalt to punch and hold him up at the same time.  
" _Where's Juliette then?!"_  
"Tybalt, stop! I already told you he hasn't seen her!" Hermia tried making her way to Tybalt, but one of the pinstriped men held her back, "Let me go!"  
"Shut up, Hermia. Just stay out of it!" Tybalt yelled, still focused on Ripp.  
It was then that Tank came downstairs to see what all of the commotion was. There was a bunch of people in the house, and one of them seemed to be trying to kill Ripp. With Mercutio's help, they managed to pull the angry redhead off of his brother. Tybalt tried getting away from them, but their combined strength was too much for him.   
  
Finally, Consort spoke up. He didn't seem at all concerned that , "Mr. Grunt, where is my granddaughter? She mentioned you in her 'running away' note."  
"Mr. Capp, I swear that I haven't seen her at all. We wouldn't run away with each other, and we've never talked about doing so either." If Juliette asked, however, he'd do it. He'd want to get away from this family too.  
"I see." Consort was silent for a moment, but then he gestured to the pinstripe men, "Search the house." Without another word, the pinstripe men began looking around.  
"I'm telling you, Mr. Capp. You won't find her or any of her things here. She's only been here once, and that's when Hermia, Miranda, and Tybalt were here with her." It was the truth. He's only been here for a few weeks, and Juliette seemed to prefer Strangetown anyway.  
Consort didn't reply. Since the house wasn't that big, the pinstripe men finished their investigation quickly.  
"Sorry sir. There really is no sign of Juliette anywhere."  
"...I see. Then we'll have to search elsewhere."  
  
With that, everyone began to leave. Romeo, Mercutio, and Hermia all gave him sympathetic looks as they passed him, Tybalt shoved past him angrily, Goneril said nothing but he could tell she didn't like him too much. The pinstripe men left after that, and one of them kept avoiding his eye for some reason.  
"Ripp. Listen well, because I'm only going to say this once." Consort said, approaching the teen, "When we find my granddaughter, you are not to speak or interact with her again. She does not need someone like _you_ in her life. Do I make myself clear?"  
"Yes, sir." Ripp said boredly. Sure, Consort _said_ to stay away from her.. but there's no way he was doing that. Even before they became an item, they had been good friends since freshman year. He wasn't going to give it up just because her grandpa seemed to hate people not as rich as them. Consort still seemed pleased with his answer, and left without another word.  
  
"You okay?" Tank asked, closing and locking the door after Consort left.  
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for the backup." Ripp replied, walking back to the couch.  
"Mhm. So, what are you gonna do?"  
"I'm not actually going to dump Juliette for starters. That's what she was worried about the last time we spoke."  
"So, what are you going to do?"  
"I don't know just yet, but I'll figure it out. By the way, when's Lilith and everyone else coming?"  
"At eleven. They want to be sure everyone's asleep before we go."  
"Got it. You nervous about this whole thing?"  
"Maybe a little, but I'm willing to get over that so we can go back to normal."  
"We're never going to be normal after this, Tank. I can safely say that."  
  
Ripp did have a point there. They really _wouldn't_ be the same after this incident, and they really weren't expecting this school year to begin with a bang.  
They were more than ready, however. They were in too deep to back out now.  


* * *

  
_Monday, 11:30 P.M._  
  
It was go time.  
  
Lilith had texted Ripp, and Ripp woke Tank up. They grabbed their jackets and bags, and slowly walked down the stairs. They could hear their dad snoring in his room, so they knew he wouldn't hear them leaving.  
They exited the house and were immediately greeted by Lilith who had been sitting on the curb waiting for them.  
"Hey. So we're really doing this, huh?"  
"Guess so. I'm ready to put this whole nightmare behind us." Tank replied, sitting next to the redhead.  
"Me too. I kinda feel bad for ditching our parents though." Ripp said, moving to sit by Tank.  
"Mary-Sue's been panicking about Angela all day. She even called the cops."  
"Yeah? The Capps came over. Hermia's and Juliette's older brother looked ready to kill Ripp."  
"Tybalt's always like that. He's got a bone to pick with everyone for some reason."  
  
Finally, Hermia and Johnny pulled up in their cars and stepped out. Miranda had decided to stay in the front seat of Hermia's car, but she waved anyway.  
"Hey. Ripp, I'm _so_ sorry about Tybalt earlier! If I knew he was going to do that--"  
"It's cool, Hermia. You weren't the one who tried attacking me." Ripp grinned at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.  
"Alright, guys." Johnny began, "If there's anyone who wants to back out, they can do so now." When no one said anything, Johnny continued, "So, everyone remembers what they're doing, right? We're meeting up in the city, near the shore and Science Center. We'll plan our next moves there.  
"Of course." Hermia said, handing Lilith her car keys, "Take care of my car, okay?"  
"I will, trust me," Lilith replied, taking the keys and getting up from the ground, "So, are we ready to go?"  
  
"I think so," Johnny said, climbing back into his car, "Stay safe, guys. After tonight, I don't know when we'll be able to meet in person again."  
Hermia climbed into the front seat next to Johnny, and Ripp sat in the back.   
In Hermia's car, Lilith started it up. Miranda refused to move from the front seat because she was getting tired, so Tank also sat in the back. This is it, no more going back now.  
They would rescue their friends and Bella Goth tonight, and nothing would stand in their way.  
  
Meanwhile, Buck had just watched his brothers and their friends drive off from the upstairs window. He didn't know why they left or where they'd be going, but he knew that it had to be important. That'd why he vowed not to tell anyone no matter how much they begged and pleaded.  
If anyone asked, he saw nothing.


	51. Goth-Lothario (11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander tells the others what he found, and Sandy works for Loki now.
> 
> Sorry about the chapter lengths! They look way longer on Quotev. I may go back and tweak a few of them later.

_SimCity Park, Tuesday, 3:00 P.M._  
  
More teenagers had went missing last night, and Alexander was worried.  
  
Don was taken in to the police for questioning because of an anonymous tip, and Cassandra went with him. She asked John Burb to babysit him for a while, and so he took Alexander, Lucy, and Buck to the park for a while.  
They were joined by Jill Smith, who had been brought by her mother Jenny, and the Veronaville kids, who were brought by Bottom's dad, Oberon. At the moment, they were hanging out on the jungle gym.  
"Can you believe it? Both of my cousins went missing yesterday.." Lucy said sadly, resting her head on Buck's shoulder, "And so did Buck's brothers..."  
"Our cousins and sister went missing!" Desdemona threw her hands up, while Hal and Beatrice dodged them.  
"My brother and Ophelia are gone too. I wonder why all of the teenagers up and left?" Jill said. She didn't look sad or anything, but she didn't look happy either.  
"I think I have a small lead on them, but it isn't much." Alexander said, holding out his camera.  
"What is it?" Bottom asked, leaning closer to him. He handed the camera to her, and she passed it around the group.  
"This was Sunday night. I couldn't sleep, so I got up and began to go into the kitchen for a late night snack. I saw Don leaving around midnight, and I wondered where he was going. I stayed up, and I watched him come back in at around two in the morning."  
  
"That's why you were so tired yesterday!" Buck exclaimed, point at him.  
"Yes, but I took that as him meeting up with Dina. Now that we know about the disappearances, I'm thinking there's more to this story than meets the eye."  
"You're thinking that Don had something to do with this, right? It is pretty suspicious that he left so late." Jill said. Alexander nodded in agreement.  
"So, Don the kidnapper married your sister, cheated on her, and kidnaps teens on the side. What are you going to do about it?" Beatrice asked, hanging off of the monkey bars upside down.  
"Well, I'll tell the proper authorities, of course. Even if he wasn't out kidnapping people or cheating, this could still be pretty helpful for whatever they're questioning him about." Alexander replied, taking the camera back.  
"Good plan. I hope your sister's not _too_ upset about Don though." Benedick said, simply laying back.  
  
"I'm sure she'll be fine. I think she'd be happier with someone who wasn't there when her Mom was captured, or someone who wouldn't cheat or steal kids." Hal pointed out.  
"I sure hope you're right about that, Hal. I'm gonna go tell John about it." Alexander said, hopping up and sliding down the slide behind Desdemona. As soon as the others thought Alexander was gone, they began to whisper something about him. He didn't know what they were saying, but it didn't matter right now. He approached John with a serious expression, causing the man to stop his conversation with Jenny and Oberon.  
"What's up, kiddo?"  
"I think I may have information on the missing teens. I don't know if it's any good, but it could help. Could you take me to the police station?"   
"...You sure, kiddo?"  
"I would't be here asking if I wasn't." That's when John nodded and got up from his place on the bench, "Oberon, Jenny, could you watch Lucy and Buck for a while so that I can help Alexander?" They agreed to it, so John and Alexander began to walk to the local police station.  
  
Alexander felt somewhat nervous. What if they completely disregarded what he said just because he was young? Or what if Cassandra hated him-- no, wait. That last part was dumb. Sure, they got on each other's nerves sometimes as siblings tend to do, but they could never go as far as hating each other's guts. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about what could go wrong during this meeting..  


* * *

  
_SimCity Science Center, Tuesday, 3:20 P.M._  
  
Sandy wanted to promote quickly, but this was a bit much.  
  
Short after she had successfully gotten her job at the science center, Loki Beaker himself had requested (more like demanded) that she would become his assistant. His last one had taken an early retirement, and he decided that she was the perfect person to work with even if she was just a newbie.  
Loki's workspace was located on the second floor of the center, overlooking the ocean below. It was a lovely view for sure, and Loki had allowed her to open the window as well. At the moment, her 'boss' was out of the room grabbing supplies for his newest invention; a way to translate what any animal is saying at any time. It was quite impressive, really. He already did his blueprints, so all he needed now was to put it together.  
"Look alive, Polly! Today's the day we gain the ability to understand animals!" Loki announced, slamming his boxes of supplies down.  
  
"Yes sir!" Sandy said in an extremely exaggerated lisp. She could've disguised her voice better, but she couldn't think of any other way of doing it.  
"You don't mind if I ask a few questions while we work, do you?" Loki asked, rolling out his blueprints.  
"No sir, not at all." Sandy replied, immediately getting down to work.  
"Great. Now, what made you decide to apply here?"  
"I simply thought it was interesting. You do a whole bunch of different kinds of science in just one building with no problem." That's half of her reason anyway. She needed to locate Loki's alien communicating device, but she couldn't simply bring it up. Her knowing of its existence before him officially telling her or the public would be pretty suspicious.  
"I see. How.. cute." Loki didn't seem very happy about her answer, but he didn't press it, "So, tell me a bit more about yourself."  
  
And here came the tricky part. She only hoped that her fake backstory worked on him, "Where do I start? I come from a lovely place called Hidden Springs, and I am an only child. I'm 30 years old, and.. I really like the color purple."  
"Has anyone told you that you look a lot like Bella Goth?" Loki suddenly blurted out, surprising Sandy.  
"I mean... someone told me yesterday. That's why I was kinda late."  
"Are you related to her by any chance?"  
"I don't think so...? People can look alike and _not_ be related, after all. It'd be nice to be related to her though."  
"Hm. I need to go for a second. Please, continue working." Loki said, exiting the room once more. She didn't know what he could possibly need now, but she decided it'd be better if she didn't ask. She worked on the device Loki asked her to work on in peace and quiet, but her 'boss' never returned and she eventually did finish her work.  
That's why she got up to explore, and she did manage to see a trio of teens touring the facility. She decided to join the tour with them. 


	52. Pleasant (11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three POVs, have fun!

215 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 3:50 P.M.

"So let me get this straight; You managed to lose not one, but both of our daughters, Mary-Sue?"

It was only a matter of time before Daniel found out Angela and Lilith was gone, and he was pissed. Mary-Sue had stayed up all night after Angela went missing, and planned on doing so again because Lilith was gone too. Daniel had barged in a few minutes ago after Mary-Sue had brewed some coffee to keep herself awake.  
"For the last time, Daniel. I didn't lose them, they must've ran away or something." Mary-Sue yawned.  
"And? They're gone under your care."  
"There are other missing teens too. Juliette Capp, Dirk Dreamer, and Ophelia Nigmos all went missing around the same time as Angela."  
"I don't care about them, Mary-Sue." She continued anyway.  
"Yesterday, Hermia and Miranda Capp, Johnny Smith, and Tank and Ripp Grunt went missing around the same time as Lilith. Why don't you stop blaming me for once and start thinking?"  
"So what, both of our children ran away with their friends? You called the police, and they couldn't find them no matter how hard you all searched."  
"I think there's more to it than that. Why would they all run away all at once?"  
"Enlighten me, Mary-Sue."

"I think they were kidnapped." Mary-Sue said, sipping her coffee. Daniel stared at her, then laughed.  
"Got kidnapped! Mary-Sue, are you crazy? I'm pretty sure we'd notice ten teenagers being kidnapped while they slept."  
"No, I don't think we would. Face it, Daniel. We haven't exactly been paying attention to them ever Angela yelled at us."  
"That was two years ago, Mary-Sue."  
"Exactly. Have you noticed how much they get along now? Or how they never tell us anything anymore? Anything could happen to them, and they'd probably never tell us why. That's on us both, and you know it."  
"Of course I know it, but there's nothing we can do about now. Anyway, I came here for something else related to this. When we find them, I want custody of both Lilith and Angela." Mary-Sue nearly spat out her coffee into his face.  
"Excuse me?!"  
"You heard me, Mary-Sue. Clearly, they're in danger living with you." He got up from his seat, heading towards the front door, "Better make the right choice."  
"I'm not going to deny you the right to see them. But they should at least get to decide where they want to go. They're almost ready for university." Daniel said nothing in reply, and simply left.

Mary-Sue sighed, putting her head in her hands. This month was going terribly for her. She needed to talk to someone about it, but Cassandra was with Don still and Jennifer was working late tonight. Finally, she knew who to call. She got up from the dining table, and made her way to the house phone.  
"Good day, my name is Mary-Sue Oldie. May I speak with Lazlo Curious?"

* * *

SimCity, 4:10 P.M.

Well, they didn't exactly have any leads to go off of when they left their friends last night, so they sat in Hermia's car to simply chat.

"Who are you texting, Miranda?" Lilith asked, seat reclined. Miranda had put her phone down and rested her hands behind her head.  
"My friend Rick Contrary. I'm telling him that I like him just in case I don't get to see him again." That was.. prettt morbid, but Lilith understood why she said it.  
"I thought you liked Mercutio?"  
"Not anymore. He's into Hermia, and he only sees me as a friend."  
"Oh. I'm sorry about that."  
"Don't be, it's fine. Also, Hal and Desdemona saw me and Hermia leaving to meet up with you guys."  
"What did they say about it? Are they going to snitch on you?"  
"No. I explained that we had to go and find Juliette, and they told me to 'Go defeat the bad guys'!"  
"Huh. I know that you're probably going to miss them while we're gone."  
"Yeah, but they're the reason I wanna survive this, y'know?" Suddenly, Miranda's phone began to vibrate so she checked her texts and grinned, "And now I have another reason."

Before Lilith could ask what Miranda meant by that, Tank had returned with lunch. He handed bags and drinks from the local burger shop to the girls up front.  
"Thanks. Did anyone there recognize you?" Lilith asked, sipping her drink.  
"No, I don't think so. If they did, no one said anything." Tank replied, earning a nod of approval from Lilith. Just then, Lilith's phone began to ring, so she plugged it into the car speaker and answered, "Hello?"  
"Guys, I think we found the clone." Johnny said, trying to hide his excitement.  
"Wait, really?" Tank asked, leaning closer to the phone.  
"Yeah! She keeps denying it, but Hermia's speaking to her right now. I'll call you guys back if she really is who we're looking for." Johnny hung up already, so the group in the car were left to celebrate.

"Well, lady and gentleman, looks like Bella Goth's gonna be found soon." Miranda said, grinning.  
"That leaves us to look for the other four then. I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling pumped." Tank said, giving a small smile for once.  
"I am too, don't worry." Lilith started the car up, "Now that we're all recharged, let's get this show on the road." She went peeling out of the parking lot, careful not to hit anyone or anything as she did so.

At least she was doing the speed limit..? Too bad it wasn't enough to shake the dark car trailing them from behind.

* * *

Roaring Heights, 4:30 P.M.

Thanks to Juliette, they now knew where they were taken and where they could go to hide when they escaped from this place.

It was all a matter of actually getting out, however. They did have a plan for that too, but it'd be pretty risky and difficult to pull off. They had to pull off their roles perfectly, or they might not get a chance to pull it off again.  
Dirk had pointed out that the man that attended to them carried keys and a gun, which they could probably use if they could get a hold of them.  
That's when Ophelia mentioned that pressure points could bring a grown man to his knees or even knock him out if you knew where they were and pressed hard enough. Luckily, Ophelia did know where they were because her aunt made it a point to know. Of course, she refused to hit him hard enough to kill him. That'd be too far.

It was all a matter of getting him downstairs, however. Juliette offered to do this by pretending that she needed something from him. Dirk and Angela were to make sure the man didn't see Ophelia or his gun for self defense. They'd hide underneath the stairs and go up to turn off the lights once he was close enough to Juliette. They had even managed to find some dark fabric around the basement to make makeshift blackout curtains as well. When the man asked about them when he brought them lunch, they said the sunlight was too bright. He looked at them weirdly, but said nothing in return.

Once the man was taken down by them, they'd tie him to one of the basement poles with their blankets. It wouldn't hold him for too long, but it'd be long enough for them to make their getaway. Considering how weak and somewhat scrawny looking their guard was, they figured it wouldn't be too much trouble, but they wouldn't get cocky just yet. They had to actually try and take him down first.

They were buzzing with anticipation, but they were also quite nervous to pull off their plan. No, no, they needed to think happy thoughts..  
Being nervous would put a wrench in their plans.


	53. Caliente (11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sisters are looking for the teens, but for completely different reasons.

_130 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 5:00 P.M._  
  
Nina couldn't believe what she was hearing right now.  
  
Tank and Ripp had also gone missing, and it happened last night. Buzz had gotten a call from the school stating that his teenage sons weren't present, and he was prepared to scold them as soon as he got home.  
He was surprised to see that they weren't there. He checked their rooms and a few things were missing, and Buck had said that he didn't see them either. He called the parents of their friends and even PT9, but they didn't see them either. In fact, their children were missing too!  
  
At the moment, Nina was comforting Buzz on his couch. She knew he wouldn't cry or otherwise show that he was sad, but she knew he was. His body language told her everything she needed to know.   
"Where did I go wrong, Nina? I've been trying to get along with them, and it seemed to be working.."  
"Don't beat yourself up over it, please. I don't think that they'd just up and run away without at least leaving a note."  
"Maybe not, but I don't see what else it could be. The other teens of this neighborhood and the others all disappeared. Consort Capp even had me come into Veronaville to search for his granddaughter."  
"The 'good' and 'responsible' teens of the neighborhoods were the first ones to go, remember? Not the rebellious ones like you'd think."  
"Maybe the rebellious ones convinced them to go with them?"  
"No. They wouldn't have a reason to go too. Maybe the teens that left last night are searching for the ones who went missing on Sunday night."  
"That could be plausible, but why wouldn't they tell an adult?"  
  
"Tell me, Buzz, if you were their age would you tell an adult? They'd prevent you from going. If they're investigating, they wouldn't tell you anything about it, so you wouldn't know if your friends are okay. I'm not saying that them running away is fine, because it's not, but I'm just saying."  
"No, I see where you're coming from and it makes a lot of sense." He gets up from the couch and Nina followed him, "I still intend on searching for them, however. They can't have gotten too far on foot."  
"Yeah, I agree. I'm going with you though."  
"By all means, go ahead. Two heads are better than one, after all. Should we get going now?"  
"Yeah. I'll wait outside." Nina had been on her way to the door, but Buzz grabbed her arm.  
  
"Is there something- Oh!" He had pulled her into an awkward hug.  
"I just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done for me." He said, letting her go. Before she could say anything, he had went off to look for his car keys and to tell Buck to stay over at Alexander's house.  
The hug was a surprise, but it definitely was a welcome one. She couldn't help but smile all the way to the car and all the way to SimCity.  


* * *

  
_SimCity, 5:20 P.M._  
  
The teens were in the city, and Dina had to track them down.  
  
Loki Beaker had mentioned that Johnny Smith, Ripp Grunt, and one of the Capp girls had came to the Science Center, and his assistant Polly was entertaining them. They had mentioned Bella, so it seems that kidnapping their friends had no effect on them.  
She needed to find Lilith Pleasant, Tank Grunt, and the youngest teen Capp girl. She managed to do that, and she was currently following them around the city.  
  
They stopped only twice to get gas and to get food. Dina had managed to lose them after they got food, and now she was searching for them. Their car was an expensive looking dark purple one, so it shouldn't have been too hard to spot..  
Key word was shouldn't. She really could not find them at the moment. She had time to think about her next move, so she did.  
She was supposed to be joined by Don, but the idiot got himself arrested by the cops. Someone told them that Don had been arguing with Bella the night she disappeared, and some had mentioned that they saw Don leaving the house the night the first bunch of teens had disappeared.  
  
She questioned Nina about it, but the redhead claimed she had nothing to do with it. Dina highly doubted that, but she had no proof that it was her who snitched on him. Either way, Don was in custody and couldn't help them anymore. Good riddance. She could tell he was having doubts about the whole thing, and they didn't need a weak link holding them back from what they needed to accomplish. Speaking of, Mortimer had been acting coldly towards her lately, so she needed to pick up another love potion from that matchmaker lady sometime later.  
  
Wait, that was a purple car. From the brief glance that she managed to get, she saw a redhead girl with short hair at the wheel, and another short haired girl riding shotgun. She followed them, of course. If only she could listen in on their conversations..


	54. Capp (11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teens are almost all reunited, but they're not out of the woods just yet.  
> Can you believe this all happened in a single day?

_Roaring Heights, Monday, 5:50 P.M._  
  
It was getting dark, so it was time for them to put their plan in action.  
  
Around this time, their guard would be bringing their dinner plates back upstairs-- speak of the devil, he was already here. Dirk, Angela, and Ophelia were already hiding under the stairs to wait for the man to question Juliette.  
"Miss Capp, where are your friends?" To his surprise, the redhead threw herself against him.  
"Oh, does it matter? I've been waiting to see you all day!"  
As they conversed, Ophelia came up behind the man while Dirk and Angela slowly made their way upstairs to make sure it didn't creak. Dirk reached the switch first, and turned it off.  
"Hey, what the-?" The man was surprised, but Ophelia tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to where he thought she was, earning a hard knee to the area above the groin for his trouble. He groaned, keeling over and immediately got punched in the jaw. When Dirk heard him fall over, he turned the lights back on. Like Ophelia said, he was only knocked out and she confirmed this by checking his pulse.  
  
Before Juliette and Dirk tied him up to the pole and tied cloth around his mouth, Angela grabbed his phone, keys, and gun.  
"Juliette, you should lead. You obviously know where your vacation house is, so.." Ophelia said, and Juliette nodded in agreement. They slowly climbed up the stairs, and Dirk locked the basement door behind them. They weren't out of the woods yet, however. In a partly closed door down the hall, light, laughs, and smoke spilled from the room. They snuck past it, reaching the door that lead to the shop front they saw yesterday. Dirk kept looking back while the girls stepped inside the shop portion, and once they were safely in he joined them.  
It was a lovely antique shop-- the perfect cover up. They noticed that there wasn't a bell on the door, but there was a bell on the desk where the register was. The sign signalling whether it was open or not was flipped to 'close' and they noted the lack of people on the street. As soon as they exited the shop, they took deep breaths of the fresh and chilly summer air.  
  
They couldn't rest now, however. Juliette lead them to a more busy area that she recognized, earning weird looks from pedestrians considering they were still in their pyjamas. It took about twenty minutes, but they had made it to the vacation home without being caught by anyone in a pinstripe suit. The group waited as Juliette searched for the spare key underneath an old flower pot and unlocked the front door. They were immediately taken aback by how lovely the house was.  
"We should probably change our clothes. Angela, you can follow me to my room. Ophelia, since you're way taller than me, Hermia's room is to the right of mine. Dirk, Tybalt's room is right across from mine." They all nodded, climbing up the grand staircase in front of them. After a few minutes, they had all come back down in their new outfits, looking as if they had stepped right out of a movie set.  
  
"Barricade the front door just in case they find us, and make yourselves comfortable, okay? I'm going to try and contact our friends."   
Angela, Dirk, and Ophelia pushed a bookcase in front of the front door, and dimmed all of the lights in the front room. Juliette went to the kitchen and toward the house phone, dialing Hermia's cell phone number.  
_'Please pick up, please pick up..'_  


* * *

  
_SimCity, 6:15 P.M._  
  
Hermia, Johnny, and Ripp had been sitting outside of the Science Center when Juliette called.  
  
Johnny was texting Lilith's group about how they had managed to find the clone, and that she'd let them into the lab after Loki left and after she found the alien communication device.  
Ripp had turned his phone off ages ago. His father and Nina kept trying to contact him, but he refused to respond to the calls.  
Hermia had been prepared to ignore the unknown caller, but she answered it. What if Juliette and the others found a phone?   
"Hello? Who is it?"  
_"Hermia? Thank goodness you answered!"_  
"Juliette? Is that you? Are the others with you?" Johnny and Ripp paused, and Hermia put her phone on speaker mode.  
_"Yes! Angela, Dirk, and Ophelia-- they're here with me right now!"_  
"Where are you guys? We'll send Lilith and the others to come and get you!"  
_"Roaring Heights, we're at the vacation home. Tell them to come through the back door, because we have the front barricaded."_  
  
"I will, but why?"  
_"The Altos' men were the ones who kidnapped us, and they'll probably be back for us later."_  
"No way.."  
_"Yes way! Now I have to go, goodbye! See you later!"_ With a click, Juliette had hung up. The car was silent for a moment, but then Hermia turned to Johnny.  
"Call Lilith, and tell them to get to Roaring Heights. I'll also give them the address while you're at it."  
Johnny nodded, dialing Lilith's number and immediately getting through to her. Before Hermia could tell Lilith what to do, Sandy had knocked on the window holding a bundle of lab coats and safety goggles. Hermia rolled down the window.  
"I haven't seen Loki at all, so I brought these disguises down for you. I'm afraid that I haven't located the device, however."  
  
Ripp took the items, thanking her, while Hermia guided Lilith from Johnny's phone. She knew it'd take at least an hour to get there normally, so she told them to speed. The cops were far too busy looking for them to care about speeding, after all. Juliette did also mention that the Altos were after them, so they had another reason to be quick about it. If the Altos got to them first, well..  
She didn't want to think about it. She'd definitely be warning Consort about this later, however. They were pretty shady to her anyway.  


* * *

  
_Roaring Heights, 6:50_  
  
Thanks to Hermia, they finally knew where to go.  
  
They had made it there in record time thanks to speeding and Miranda's shortcuts once they made it to the city, but they could see black cars heading to the vacation home as well, causing the group in the car to worry.  
When they finally got there, they could see men in pinstripe suits attempting to break the door down while holding guns. They began to worry again, but that's when Juliette, Angela, and Dirk came bolting out the back door as soon as the men managed to gain entry. Tank threw open the door, and the four teens squeezed into the back as best as they could.  
Lilith began driving as Dirk tried closing the door.  
  
"Are you guys okay?" Miranda asked, trying to hide her fear.  
"Yeah.. we're good. Pretty shaken though." Ophelia said in between pants.  
"Where are we going? You know, besides back to our city." Dirk asked, holding onto the car door.  
"Science Center. That's where we're gonna meet up with the others." Tank replied, currently holding a trembling Angela.  
That's when something bumped into the back of the car. And it happened again.  
Lilith moved the front mirror a little so she could see, and gasped, "Holy shit..."  
Miranda tried to look through the car door mirror, but a bullet had just grazed it. That's when the group knew that they were in big trouble.  
  
"Lilith, what are we gonna do?!" Juliette shouted, shakily holding onto Ophelia's arm.  
"We're almost to the highway, so hold tight!" Lilith replied, speeding up. There were more bullets hitting the back of the car now, miraculously not hitting the back window. Hermia would be pissed at the fact her car was riddled with holes, but they couldn't worry about that now.  
"They're gaining on us!" Dirk shouted, looking back at the black cars behind them.  
"Working on it!" Lilith grit her teeth, putting the pedal to the metal. She could see the Science Center from here, they were almost home free! She could barely see someone resembling Hermia standing at Johnny's car.  
"Call Hermia! Tell them to get inside!" Miranda nodded, pulling out her phone and quickly calling Hermia. The figure had ran inside with three other people, who she assumed to be Ripp, Johnny, and the clone.  
  
Now, they had to focus on actually getting out of the car without being pelted with bullets.


	55. Grunt (11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The loved ones are reunited, and Sandy finally meets everyone!
> 
> Also, I just noticed that Buzz, Tank, and Ripp are all attracted to girls with red hair. Oops?

_Science Center, Monday, 7:25 P.M._  
  
When Tank finally decided to hang out with his brother's friends, he wasn't exactly planning on nearly dying for it.  
  
Lilith had managed to safely park the car, but those men in the suits were still coming at them.  
"We need to get inside with the others." Lilith said before making a break for the door. Of course, Dirk followed her.  
"Here goes nothing." Miranda went next, ducking her head.  
"C'mon, Ophelia! Let's get this over with!" Juliette said, pulling Ophelia into the science building with her.  
"Ready to go?" Angela asked, looking at him and grabbing his hand.  
"Ready as I'll ever be." He replied, running with Angela. He attempted to shield her body with his own, and it worked in the sense that the bullets didn't hit either of them. These guys sucked at shooting.  
  
As soon as they entered the lobby, they could see Miranda, Hermia, and Ripp pulling Juliette into a group hug.  
Johnny and Ophelia were off to the side exchanging kisses, and Lilith and Dirk were simply holding each other close.  
Tank tried to move his hand away from Angela's, but she looked at him and simply held on even tighter.  
Leaning against the wall was a woman with short, brown hair and wearing a lab coat. Despite obvious changes in hairstyle, the resemblance to Bella Goth was uncanny.   
"Can I have everyone's attention please?" The woman said. God, even their voices sounded similiar even though the only time Tank heard the real Bella's voice was on TV.  
Everyone pulled away from their loved ones, turning to face the older woman.  
  
"As you may or may not know, I'm the clone of your Bella Goth. I ask that you refer to me as Sandy if you need to speak to me. Just so you don't mix me and Bella up when she returns." The teens nodded, "The device that you need to find Bella is somewhere hidden in this building by a man named Loki Beaker. It's small, looks like a mini computer, and it's most likely on the engineering floor just above us, but--" The gunshots outside were getting louder and began to shatter the windows, "We should search everywhere! Even downstairs! Grab a partner and get going! Be careful!" Before Sandy ran off, she handed everyone keycards to access any part of the building they saw fit.  
  
Lilith and Dirk teamed up and offered to search this side of the building downstairs, Juliette and Ripp would search upstairs directly above Lilith and Dirk, Hermia and Miranda chose the lowest level, and Johnny and Ophelia decided to go upstairs and to the left of the building. That left Tank and Angela on this floor and to the left of the building, which was fine by them. Fingers still intertwined, they headed off to search for something 'mini computer' shaped.  
"Hey, Tank?"  
"Yes, Angela?"  
"What do you think's going to happen to us?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Like.. when this is all over. Will we all drift away from each other? Will our merged friend group just cease to exist?"  
"I think we'll all be stuck together for a while longer even when some of us go to college next year. I mean, it'd be pretty rude to just drop the friends you survived the mafia with, huh?"  
She smiled a little this, but she still had her doubts, "I hope you're right about that, Tank. I'd hate to lose you and the others just because we want different things in our life."  
He softly squeezed her hand in response, like she did to him earlier, "I promise that I won't leave you Ange. I'm sure that the others won't either."  
He didn't see it, but she looked up at him in surprise when he called her 'Ange'. Whenever they would chat, he usually called her 'Angela' or just 'Pleasant'. He never gave people nicknames.  
  
He really didn't want to lose Angela or his other new friends either. He finally felt like he belonged somewhere. He didn't feel so disconnected from everyone, and he didn't need to act tough around them. Of course, him being him meant that he'd never say this out loud to anyone.  


* * *

  
_Science Center, 7:30 P.M._  
  
Juliette and Ripp tried to block out the sound of the Altos' goons searching for them, but it was getting more and more difficult as they searched.  
  
"Your family came by my house yesterday to ask me about you." He said in an attempt to distract Juliette from the fact that they could potentially die tonight.  
"Oh goodness.."  
"I thought Tybalt was going to murder me on the spot! Luckily, Tank and Mercutio helped me out."  
"I am _so_ sorry, Ripp, I-- wait, did you say Mercutio? As in Mercutio Monty?"  
"Yep. Seems like your family and Romeo's were helping each other out for once."  
"Huh. Maybe something good _did_ come from all of this. Oh, wait-" Juliette paused for a moment, looking around. Ripp was about to ask her what was wrong, but she pressed a finger to his lips. A moment passed, and she removed her finger.  
  
"What was that about?" Ripp asked, somewhat concerned.  
"Sorry, I thought I heard something.. anyway, which room should we check?"   
"I'm going to check in there," Ripp said, nodding his head to the door he was standing next to.  
"I'll check the room across from it then. Holler if you find anything, okay?" With that, Juliette left him and stepped into the room. He got a brief flash of what it was, and it seemed to be a lab of some sort.  
He turned to enter the room he wanted to go into, and he couldn't help but groan.  
This was Loki Beaker's messy office, and he needed to go through everything to make sure he didn't miss anything. He started with the papers on desk first and picked up the papers on the floors afterwards. He checked the shelves for any secret compartments, and upon him not discovering anything, he flopped down into Loki's chair with a loud sigh. He should probably meet up with Juliette now.  
  
He got up from the chair and began to walk to the door, but paused upon hearing gruff voices on the other side of the door. He crawled underneath the desk, listening to the conversation.  
_"Are you sure those little brats haven't escaped yet?"  
"They wouldn't. We would've seen them. They're probably hiding somewhere."_  
_"What about Mr. Beaker?"  
"He's escaping the facility with the device right now. He and his wife are escaping to Three Lakes tonight now that their test subject and the clone are gone."  
"Then what about Dina? She's supposed to be with Mr. Darius, ain't she?"  
"Yeah, but she's been ignoring our calls all day for some reason. Enough chat, however. Help me search this lab for any of the brats."_  
Alarm bells went off in Ripp's head. Juliette was in there, and he knew that if they found her, she'd be in big trouble. As he tried to quickly think of a way to sneak Juliette out of the room, he completely missed the office door opening and closing softly. He was still deep in thought when he felt someone crawl in next to him, and he would've yelled if the person didn't cover his mouth.  
  
"Hey, hey, it's only me," Juliette whispered. He pulled her into a hug, burying his face into her hair, "Did you miss me that much?"  
"I was scared that those men grabbed you again. How did you get out?"  
"I threw something at the window, and crawled out. Thank goodness for high tables, huh?"  
"Yeah. But what are we gonna do now? They'll come in here next, and they might find us."  
"They won't find us, I'm sure of it." Juliette said firmly before wrapping her arms around Ripp, "We just need to be very quiet when they come in to check."  
Speak of the devil, the men shoved their way into the room, grumbling about something. Juliette and Ripp pulled their legs further under the desk and clung to each other. Juliette had her head on Ripp's shoulder, and he positioned himself in a way that would allow him to cover her if the men managed to spot them.  
  
"Are you sure they'd both be in here?" One of the men asked, walking toward the desk, "Where exactly would two teenagers hide?"  
"I don't know, to tell you the truth."   
The man by the desk rolled his eyes, walking toward the window behind the desk. The sunset over the ocean would've been lovely if they weren't busy with what they needed to do tonight. The man felt like someone was watching him, but he simply brushed it off. It was probably just his partner.  
"Are you done making goo-goo eyes at the sun?" His partner asked, annoyed.  
"Uh, yeah. Let's search the other rooms quickly. My wife's making ossobuco with risotto alla milanese for dinner tonight, and I'm not missing it." The teens under the desk sighed in relief, slowly making their way out from under it.  
"That was tense." Ripp said, leaning against the wall.  
"I know. Since they're still in this hall, let's wait here for a bit." Juliette replied.  
  
And so they waited, listening to the doors open and shut while the men progressively got angrier and angrier. They'd have to face them eventually, but for now they just needed to catch their breath.


	56. Goth-Lothario (12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They'll be reunited soon, don't worry! The teens will not die either.

_SimCity, Monday, 7:49 P.M._  
  
When Cassandra told Alexander, who hosted a sleepover with Buck, Lucy and Jill, to put on their shoes and handed them coats, they knew something was wrong. They were supposed to be getting in their pyjamas by now, and here they were about to go somewhere.  
  
He knew that she was torn up over Don being arrested for kidnapping, and he felt guilty about it but at the same time, he was fine with doing so. It wasn't out of any genuine malice for the man, but Alexander felt that he shouldn't get away with whatever he was doing that night, whether it was him cheating on Cassandra again or him kidnapping teens for whatever reason.  
Anyway, the group was in the city for some reason that became clear to them as they got out of the car and joined his father who had been waiting for them. There was a group gathered outside of the Science Center. Because of this, Buck and Lucy held hands and Alexander and Jill held hands as they followed the adults so that they didn't get lost.  
"What do you make of this, Jill?" Alexander asked, trying to stay close to the others.  
"Well, based on all of the cop cars, maybe something's been stolen? It wouldn't be surprising since Mr. Loki Beaker was supposed to be unveiling some fancy new invention at the end of this month."  
"Oh really? Did he ever get a chance to say what this invention was?"  
"Nope. The only details he shared was that it was supposed to 'revolutionize communication as we know it'."  
"Huh. Strange." Jill shrugged as the kids, Cassandra, and Mortimer managed to push their way through the crowd to get to the front. There were barricades everywhere including on the shore to prevent anyone from trying to barge in.   
  
"What's going on?" Mortimer asked the closest officer.  
"Eyewitness reports said that some teens ran in there earlier, followed by men shooting at them. No one's come back out yet." She replied calmly.  
"So why aren't any of you going in there to save them?" Cassandra asked, folding her arms. The officer simply shrugged.  
"We didn't get the order to yet. When they determine it's safe to go in, that's when we'll save them."  
"In my honest opinion, that's quite dumb." Mortimer said, "I suppose I understand waiting for instructions, but those teens could be _dead_ by the time you get in there to save them." While the adults argued with the officer, the kids decided to say something about this.  
  
"The officer said that teenagers ran in there earlier. Do you think they're our family members?" Buck asked, staring the building in front of them.  
"It has to be them!" Lucy exclaimed, "This seems right up their alley."  
"Do you think they'll be alright in there? I mean, there's people probably actually trying to kill them in there.." Jill asked in worry, "And if the teens in there _are_ our siblings, then Johnny.."  
"I'm worried too, but," Alexander wrapped an arm around Jill's shoulder, "Something tells me that they'll be just fine."  
"Yeah! They could take on the entire world if they wanted!" Lucy grinned, hugging Jill.  
"Let's just wait and see what happens, yeah? They could completely turn the tables on the guys after them." Buck said, pulling everyone into a group hug.  
"Thanks, guys.. I appreciate it."  
"And what's this? You guys are being cheesy without us?" A familiar voice called. They let go of each other, turning to see the Veronaville kids making their way to them.  
  
"What are you all doing here?" Alexander asked in surprise.  
"You really expected us to stay at home while this happened?" Bottom asked.  
"No way! We wanted to see what would happen tonight, so we begged our parents to bring us along. Besides, Benny here would've whined without his bedtime story." Beatrice said, using Benedick as an armrest much to his chagrin.  
"I wouldn't whine..." Benedick complained.  
"It certainly is a tragedy, is it not?" Desdemona asked in a fake prissy voice, "Why, if those brutes lay a single finger on our sister and cousins, I'll--"  
"Cut the accent, Des. Miranda's way too awesome to get hurt, y'know." Hal said in a matter of fact way.  
"Either way! It's nice to have you guys join us!" Lucy grinned.  
  
As the night went on and the rest of their families joined the kids up front, one thing became clear to everyone; Those officers weren't planning on rescuing them. They haven't moved from their spots, and their higher ups still haven't contacted them. All they could do was hope that everyone was alright in there.  


* * *

  
_Science Center, 8:00 P.M._  
  
Everyone in the Science Center not alright in there. Not one bit.  
  
Sandy had joined Hermia and who she guessed was Miranda down in the basement laboratories. They had to sneak past a few of the patrolling Alto men while they searched, but they managed. Since what they were looking for wasn't in the labs, they headed to the underground parking garage. That's where they found the dirty little rat.  
"Loki Beaker! Get back here!" Sandy began to run to catch up to him, "You two, stay back!" The teens happily obliged, hiding behind a few of the pillars. Right before Sandy could grab Loki, he pulled a gun on her.  
"Stay right there, Ms. Nomial. Or should I say Sandy?"  
"So, you've figured it out, huh?"  
"Of course. I could never forget the face of the woman who cost me and my wife our test subject. Now, here's what's going to happen; You let me leave with my device and my wife, and I let you and the teens with you go. If not, I can simply slaughter you all."  
"You wouldn't."  
"You don't know _what_ I'm willing to do."  
  
Tough decision to make. Loki did seem like the type of man to make good on his promise to kill them if she didn't comply, but she couldn't just bend to his will. Not when the teenagers went through all this crap to help save Bella Goth. Bringing them the device was the least she could do, even if she died in the process.  
"No."  
"No? You would get yourself and those brats killed for this?" He shook the device.  
"Yeah, except those kids aren't dying." With that, Sandy ran and tackled him before he could do anything else. She tried and succeeded at prying the device out of Loki's hand, sliding behind herself, "Hermia! Get out of here!"  
The redhead grabbed the device, "What about you?!"  
"I'll meet up with you guys later, just go!" After hesitating for a moment, Hermia grabbed her cousin and ran back upstairs. She could hear gunshots following them, and she nearly got up to go after them. Sadly, that distraction made it possible for Loki to turn the tables and shove her off of him. Her head smacked against the pavement, and she groaned.  
  
"Fine, you want the device? Keep it! They won't make it far anyway."  
"What do you mean...?" She felt like she was going to pass out, but she knew she couldn't.  
"This building is going up in flames when I get out of here. You and your posse will go up with it."  
"What...? But if you kill us, you'll kill your allies too."  
"And? They're not that important. Now goodbye, Ms. Sandy." Loki left through the garage as Sandy tried standing up. She'd never get upstairs to gather the others in time with this injury, so she decided to go after Loki to make sure he didn't press the red button in the first place.  
  
She hoped that the teens, and especially Hermia and Miranda would be alright.


	57. Pleasant (12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few family reunions, and a few injuries.

_Science Center, Monday, 8:15 P.M._  
  
Things weren't looking too good for Lilith and Dirk, or anyone else for that matter.  
  
For starters, they were found by the Alto men who had immediately opened fire. They managed to escape and hide out in one of the labs, but the damage had already been done. Lilith had been shot in the arm, and Dirk was shot in the leg. They managed to not leave a blood trail, but for now they needed to patch themselves up. Lilith winced as she tried tying the fabric to Dirk's leg, and winced again when he tied a strip to her upper arm. Once this was done, they leaned against one of the lab tables.  
"Man.. some adventure, huh?" Lilith said, staring at the ceiling."  
"I'll say. Who could've guessed that the mafia would be after us?"  
"Who knows. I'm sorry for getting you involved with this. You got kidnapped and shot and--" Dirk cut Lilith off with a quick kiss, and rested his forehead on hers, "It's fine, Lil. It was my choice to get involved with you guys, and I don't regret it at all."  
"Yeah, but--"  
"Shh. You're not getting rid of me that easily. Now, are you ready to go find everyone else?"  
"Yeah, let's go." As Lilith got up and slowly helped Dirk up, the door to the lab opened. Lilith prepared to be shot at again, but--  
  
"You guys are a sight for sore eyes!" Ophelia said, making her way into the room and clutching her side. Johnny followed behind her, hand on her back, "I'm glad you guys are alright," He noticed the makeshift tourniquet on Lilith's arm, "Mostly alright anyway."  
"What happened to you?" Lilith asked, wrapping Dirk's arm around her shoulder so she could support him while they walked.  
"She took a bullet for me, even though I told her not to. I patched her up with some gauze we found." Johnny said.  
"I told you, I don't want to see you hurt when I can prevent it. By the way, have you guys seen the others yet? I'm getting kinda worried about them. We didn't get a chance to set up any communication with them." Ophelia asked.  
"Sorry, we haven't." Dirk said, shaking his head. That's when Hermia and Miranda came running into the room, out of breath.  
  
"We've got the device!" Hermia said, waving it, "Sandy got it for us but now--" She looked back out into the hallway, "We need to get out of here!"  
"But we need to find the others first! They don't know we have it yet!" Lilith protested. She was worried about Juliette, Ripp, and Tank, but she was more worried about her twin to be hones. Before Hermia could reply, they heard a loud booming noise, and the building began to shake.  
"Guys.. look down." Miranda said, pointing at a few cracks in the ground that seemed to get bigger and bigger. The group shared a look, and then tried to exit the lab as fast as they could despite some of their injuries.  
  
It was difficult, but they managed to escape. They didn't stop until they had made it to the police barrier, and they refused to answer any questions from the officer nearby. They were trying to catch their breath until--  
"Mira! Hermes!" Desdemona and Hal had crawled under the barrier to hug their sister and cousin. The police had tried to protest, but stopped when they saw Consort, Tybalt and Goneril coming. They looked angry, but they ended up joining the group hug between the younger Capps.  
"Johnny, Johnny!" Jill cheered, running at her older brother with her arms outstretched. The green teen held out his arms too, letting her jump into them. They were eventually joined by their parents too.  
"Ophelia." Being as old as she was, Olive wasn't running over to her niece, but she was still excited to see her. They hugged as well as Olive showered her niece's face in kisses like old aunts and grannies do.  
"Dirk!" Darren was the next parent to reunite with his kid. Dirk let go of Lilith to hobble over to his dad. Darren had kept asking him what had happened to his leg, but Dirk simply hugged him tighter in response.  
  
Lilith smiled at the sight of her friends reuniting with their families, but couldn't help but feel upset at the same time. Her sister was still trapped inside, and the building was crumbling too. The fire department and paramedics were on their way, but due to the crowd it could be far too late to save them.  
Then, there was the fact that neither Mary-Sue nor Daniel had run up to greet her. She was prepared to join the crowd until she felt a tap on her shoulder, "Lilith."  
Lilith turned around to see her mother, aunt, uncle, and cousin waiting for her. Much to her surprise, her mother was the one to pull her into a tearful hug.  
"I thought I lost you, Lilith." Lilith froze. Mary-Sue had never hugged her like this in the past, nor did she ever cry for her. She didn't know how to feel.  
"Where's Angela?" Lucy asked innocently. Lilith looked down at her younger cousin, mouth agape.  
  
"I-I... I don't know."  


* * *

  
_Science Center, 8:25 P.M._  
  
Note to self; When in Mexican standoff with the mafia, make them quick so that when the building blows up, you can escape.  
  
As soon as Angela and Tank heard the explosion, they had made a beeline for the front entrance-- until a bullet nearly nailed Angela in the face. More accurately, it had grazed her cheek.  
"Aww, I missed," A voice said in mock sadness. The teens whirled around to see a young looking person aiming a gun at them, "That trick you and your friends pulled on me in the shop? Hysterical. Now, let me return the favor." He began to shoot at them again, causing them to turn tail and run, "Running away so soon? I've always loved a good chase." Tank had pushed Angela in front of him as the gangster laughed in a super annoying yet super creepy way.  
"You know that guy?" Tank asked, pulling a door open.  
"I'm guessing he's the guy who was supposed to guard us back in Roaring Heights. Ophelia really did a number on him." Angela yelped as the door's window exploded as she went through them, "By the way, do you know where we're going?"  
"For now, just trying to shake this guy!"  
  
He was persistent though, they'd give that to him. Even when Tank began to carry Angela bridal style when she began to stumble, the man kept coming at them. No matter what they did or where they went, he was right there to find them. He seemed to be aiming for Angela specifically too. When Angela noticed, she offered to distract him away from Tank so that he'd had the chance to escape. Tank promptly refused to let her do so. They were a team, and teammates couldn't just leave each other behind.  
Sadly, however, the man managed to corner them.  
"Just give me the redhead, boy. I'll let you go if you do!"  
"No way. Even if I did, who says you couldn't just shoot me right after that?"  
"Well, suit yourself then! Are there any last words?" He asked, aiming his gun at them.  
"Yes." Angela said, "You should probably get away from there if you value your life."  
"What? What kind of last words are tha-AAAAAH!" Right underneath the man, the floor had fell to the bottom level, and he went along with hit. They heard a distinct 'crunch' when he fell, and winced immediately after. They really weren't interested in seeing what became of him, so they just walked to the front entrance.  
  
"So, how'd you know that it was going to cave in like that?"  
"I saw the cracks get bigger and deeper while he was bouncing around, but I saw it even before that too. It's probably because of the explosion from earlier, y'know?"   
He nodded in understanding. As soon as they made it outside, he put her down and she began to hold onto his arm for support. People were cheering for them, but Angela could tell something was bothering Tank still. His eyes looked steely, and she knew it had to have been because of Ripp still being missing, but she couldn't confirm it because little Buck had already started hugging him. She let go of Tank's arm and let them have their moment.  
"Angela." She heard Lilith say from behind her. As soon as she turned around, her twin, cousin and mother were already hugging her tightly. No words were exchanged during this, but they felt like they didn't need to speak. She couldn't help but notice that their father wasn't here to greet them.

  
Yes, it was nice to see most of her friends and family safe, but Angela still couldn't help but wonder what was keeping Juliette and Ripp. She could see the Capps and the General getting more anxious, but there was nothing she could do to try and ease their concerns.


	58. Caliente (12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh.

_Science Center, Monday, 8:30 P.M._  
  
Tank had made it out of the building with Angela Pleasant, but Ripp and the other Capp wasn't with them.  
  
That did nothing to make Buzz or Nina feel better. Buzz looked ready to hop over the the police barricade to find Ripp himself, but he simply stuck to gripping the barricade until his knuckles went white. He'd never say this out loud, but he really was worried about his son. Even if they fought and got angry at each other on a daily basis, Buzz really did care for Ripp.  
Even if they fought a lot, Nina cared for her younger sister as well. That why she kept trying to call Dina despite that fact the blonde wouldn't return her calls or texts. Even Mortimer mentioned not seeing her around the house lately. While she was free to do whatever she pleased, it was pretty worrying when she actively ignored Nina whenever they saw each other in public. Still, Nina desperately tried to contact Dina.  
  
She finally put her phone away when the fire trucks and paramedics pulled up. She hadn't realized it at first, but the building had managed to catch on fire-- not surprising considering there was an explosion. The fire department and paramedics had come by now, and the teens that had just escaped were escorted over to the ambulance. She could also see some of the men who were shooting run out the building only to be caught by the police. She tore her eyes away from the scene once she felt someone tugging on her hand, and she looked down to see Buck.  
"Hey, Nina?"  
"What's up, Buck?"  
"Ripp still hasn't made it out yet, and I'm starting to think he won't." He said sadly. Nina crouched down to his height and pulled him into a hug.  
"Buck, I know that you're worried about him, but something tells me that he'll be just fine."  
"Are you sure? The fire's growing higher and higher, so he might not be able to get down."  
"He'll get creative, I'm sure."  
  
The thing was, she really wasn't sure. Buck was right about the flames getting bigger despite the fire department's attempts at putting it out. Coupled with the fact that the explosion from earlier had probably destroyed a lot of the floor downstairs, and it painted a pretty bleak picture. That's when people began to yell again and begin pointing, so Nina focused on the building again. She really shouldn't have.  
She jumped back and grabbed Buzz's arm as part of the building began to crumble down, and she felt Buck began to shake and cling to her again. They couldn't be dead. Ripp and Juliette still had so much to live for, and yet here they were, possibly dead or buried underneath the rubble. All anyone could do at this point was hope that they weren't on the side that fell. It'd take a miracle for them to get out now.  
  
Everyone had fell silent at this point, probably mourning the potential loss of the two who probably didn't make it. From the ambulances, Nina could see Angela trying to comfort a nearly in tears Tank, and the other teens trying to comfort a bawling Hermia and Miranda Capp.  
Hell, even Buzz was wiping at his eyes. He claimed that something was in them, but he sounded quite choked up about it when he told her. Nina just couldn't register it.  
  
She couldn't believe they were gone. She wouldn't believe they were gone. She believed that they still had a chance to escape. It was slim, but she believed it.  


* * *

  
_Outskirts of SimCity, 8:30 P.M._  
  
While everyone was busy in the city, Dina was making her big getaway.  
  
As soon as Darius had called to say that the teens had escaped from them, Dina knew she had to leave before they squealed. She packed her bags and a lot of Mortimer's cash from his safe, and proceeded to hit the road in her car.  
Nina had kept trying to contact her, but Dina had put her phone on silent. She was getting tired of her goody two-shoes sister at this point, and Nina didn't need to know Dina was leaving either.  
She passed by the Science Center as it began to crumble, and couldn't help but smirk at the sight. If luck decided to shine on her, then those nosy brats and the Altos would be dead and there'd be nowhere else that knew about their schemes.  
  
She would be starting over in Bridgeport, where it'd be easy to lose her. She knew that it was Alto turf, but there's no way they'd think of searching for her there. She had papers forged for her just in case, however. If that clone could fake her identity, then she could too. Except this time, she was the real deal. Once she left SimCity, she wouldn't ever be back. Not for Nina, not for Don, and definitely not for Mortimer. She got what she wanted from the old man, Don was in prison, and she never liked her sister after she became her 'mother' anyway.  
No, she didn't have any regrets at all. There was nothing left for her to do now, and she was finally as free as a bird.  
  
As Dina turned onto the highway, she couldn't help but congratulate herself on getting away with all of this. Just like with Michael Bachelor, she wouldn't get caught. Someone else would take the fall for what she did, and she was perfectly fine with that. Anyone but her. Now that she was leaving her past and old name behind, it'd be easier to get through to more rich men. They didn't need to know her as 'Dina Caliente: The Black Widow'. With the money she stole, she could look good and move closer to the men she was after without working a single job.  
  
It would take a while to get to Bridgeport, but Dina had more than enough patience and time to get through the long drive. There was no avoiding it since booking a flight would take too long. On the bright side, there weren't many cars or cops on the road, so she could drive as fast as she wanted and that'd significantly cut her journey shorter. She already knew the way to Bridgeport anyway, considering Darius had brought her there often either on business or on leisure. Each time, she had been blown away by its beauty.  
  
You know, even the 'villain' had happy endings sometimes. This was one of those times. By the time anyone could testify against her, she'd be long gone.  
She liked it that way too. Staying ahead of the game was her thing.


	59. Capp (12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the next Grunt chapter, I'll start the epilogues!
> 
> Once this story is done, I have a "sequel" in the works set in the other three Sims 2 neighborhoods. I'm also writing a prequel for this story.

_Science Center, Monday, 8:36 P.M._  
  
Juliette was afraid for their lives. She heard the explosions on the other side of the building, and saw that flames were starting to crawl up the walls.  
  
They had tried to leave from the stairs, but it had collapsed and took a few of the mafia men and a few of their unconcious/dead friends with it. They were officially trapped upstairs at this point, and they knew that their side would be the next to fall down. They tried to escape through a room, but they were quickly trapped by a sea of fire. Surprisingly, Ripp was calm through all of this.   
"No escape route? We'll just have to make our own." He declared and got to work trying to open the large lab window. Meanwhile, Juliette watched the flames grow higher and creep closer and she began to sweat and hug herself in fear. A fire was how her parents died, and a fire was how she was how she was going to see them again. She didn't want to die-- not here, not yet.. she knew that Ripp wouldn't let her die, but she couldn't help but panic anyway.  
"Ripp, how do you plan on getting us out of here? There's water down there and.." She asked, moving closer to him. He either didn't hear her, or he ignored her, "Ripp?"  
  
"Do you trust me, Jules?" He suddenly asked.  
"What? Of course I do. But that doesn't.." She trailed off, noticing that he finally got the window open, "Oh.. are you sure?"  
"I don't think there's any other way for us to get out, so.." He held his hand out to her, "Let's get going. They're all waiting for us." She took his hand, nodding  
"When we hit the water, you better not let me go." He had no intention of doing so. They could feel the building shaking again, so they quickly climbed out the window and began to fall. Juliette screamed as she fell, but that was quickly cut off when she hit the water. She broke through the surface and looked for Ripp. She couldn't see him at the surface, so she took a deep breathe and ducked underwater. It was hard to see, but she managed to spot him sinking quickly. Without a second thoughyt she began to swim down to him and reached out her hand. Her lungs began to feel like they were about to explode, but that didn't matter right now. She managed to grab his shirt, and she began to swim back up before both of their oxygen ran out.  
  
They broke the surface of the water again with a gasp and they began coughing up water. They clung to each other tightly and upon realizing that they were in fact not dead, they shared a look and laughed.  
"We're not dead! We're not dead!" Juliette cheered in between laughs.  
"Hey, I wasn't just going to let us die up there." Ripp replied, grinning. Before they swam over to the shore, they watched as the side of the building they were just in crumbled and fell in on itself, and from the shore they could hear a crowd yelling and then slowly getting silent.  
"We need to go going. They probably think we're dead." Juliette said. Ripp agreed, and they began to swim to the shore.  


* * *

  
_SimCity, 8:42 P.M._  
  
The Capps were doing horribly, and they expressed it in different ways.  
  
When Tybalt went to check on Hermia and Miranda, he punched the ambulance and yelled once the building completely fell apart. The paramedics tried calming him down, but he wasn't having it.  
Miranda seemed as stoic as usual, but there were tears streaming down her face and she was shaking even as everyone else was comforting her.  
Consort's head was down, but he was clearly upset about this. Goneril's face was stiff, but she was shaking as she held the sobbing Hal and Desdemona against her.  
Hermia was simply staring at the rubble in front of her, completely blocking out Mercutio and Puck's attempts at getting through to her. It was their mother and father all over again, except that this time there was nothing they could do. Hermia wanted to blame the cops for not going up in the first place, she wanted to blame the fire department for not putting out the the fire fast enough. In the end though, she knew it was no one's fault.  
  
She was ready to finally break down, but paused. She saw two people coming out of the water dripping wet and leaning against each other. One had red hair, and one had brown hair. It had to be them. Hermia stepped away from Puck and Mercutio and stepped past the police barricade. She ignored everyone's protests, and approached the two. Her eyes widened as she finally got a good look at the two people.  
"Juliette.. Ripp..." She was running at the people now, trying not to cry. Juliette and Ripp stopped as the older teen ran into their arms, full on sobbing.  
"We thought you both died!"   
Juliette pat Hermia on the back before pulling away with Ripp, "I thought we were going to die too. But let's get to everyone else before they plan our funerals, yeah?" Hermia nodded in agreement, electing to hold onto their arms instead.  
  
As they approached the crowd together, they could hear gasping and some people cheering. The two other teens awkwardly waved before making their way to their families. From the corner of her eye, she could see the General, Buck, and Tank all pulling Ripp into a hug.  
Miranda and Tybalt were running to their family, and Consort, Goneril, Desdemona, and Hal were already hugging Juliette. Hermia stood off to the side, just watching them. She could talk to her younger sister in private later, but for now she needed to talk to the family.  
  
The family chatted with Juliette for a while before they let her go off to the ambulance so she could be checked for injuries. Finally, Mercutio walked up to Hermia again.  
"Hey. I'm glad that Juliette's back."  
"So am I. I still feel bad about everything that's happened though. I can't wait to get over all of this."  
"Me either." Mercutio went silent for a moment, then dropped his voice to a whisper, "You know.. Romeo and Meadow ran away tonight too."  
"They didn't." Hermia replied, looking at him in surprise.  
"They did. They're on their way to Desiderata Valley as we speak. Romeo was tired of having his life chosen for him, and Meadow would follow him to the ends of the Earth if he asked."  
"Huh. And.. you're okay with it? Aren't you worried about them?"  
"Of course I am. But it's hard to change Romeo's mind when he sets his mind to something. At the same time, I think it's nice to see he's taking charge of his life."  
  
Maybe something good did come out of this whole thing. No one died, they could finally save Bella Goth, and Romeo could finally be happy.  
Yeah, a lot of them got hurt in the process, but they got what they came for.


	60. Grunt (12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now the Grunt brothers are finally happy with their respective love interests.

_SimCity, 8:59 P.M._  
  
Now that everything was done and over, the teenagers could finally relax and recover.  
  
Johnny and Miranda were leaning over Hermia's shoulder, watching her use a small, holographic device to contact someone or something.  
After they were patched up, Lilith bragged about her wound to Ophelia and Dirk, claiming that she officially had a cool story to tell their classmates when they got back to next week. Considering where theirs were located, Ophelia and Dirk didn't plan on doing so too. They were fine with Lilith doing it, however.  
Tank and Angela were nowhere to be seen, but everyone knew what they were probably doing together.  
  
As for Ripp and Juliette, they were sitting in the back of the ambulance with warm blankets wrapped around them. Their friends and his family had come to check on them a few times, but they were otherwise alone with each other.  
"You guys should come to Veronaville tomorrow." Juliette said looking up into the night sky.  
"Oh yeah? I thought you didn't want us to be seen by your family."  
"At first, yeah, but I ended up telling them everything. They don't mind us hanging out with you guys anymore."  
"For real? That's awesome!"  
"Mhm! They're letting us get out of our marriages too! Tybalt's staying in his because he genuinely liked the girl. It's pretty surprising."  
"That _is_ surprising. But what about the Montys? Does your family still hate them?"  
"They tolerate them at best. We can hang out with them if we want to now. It _may_ have something to do with the fact that my Uncle Kent and Bianca Monty were in a secret relationship for a while."  
"Ooh, my lips are sealed." He pretended to zip his lips and toss the keys, causing the redhead to laugh, "But yeah, I'd love to see Veronaville again. It's a really nice place."  
  
Just then, Consort and Tybalt walked up to the young couple, looking serious. Ripp remembered what Consort said to him yesterday and was prepared to defend himself, until Consort raised a hand to ask for silence.  
"It seems that I was wrong about you, Mr. Grunt. You're not the delinquent I had originally envisioned you as. Juliette told me everything about you, and I've never seen her look so happy while speaking about someone," He paused for a moment, gathering his words, "I'm allowing you to keep seeing my granddaughter. That is all." Just as quickly as he came, he left. Tybalt lingered by them for a while, however.  
"Look, if you break her heart, I'll break _you._ " He said, fists clenched.  
"You don't have to worry about that. I love Juliette, and I'll be with her for a long time if she wants me." Tybalt slowly nodded, and then went to join his grandfather again.  
  
Juliette didn't seem surprised at all by this exchange, and that was kinda weird.  
"Did you know that was going to happen?"  
"A little birdie _might_ have told them about you and how happy you make me. That's just a rumor though."  
"Well, tell that little birdie 'thank you' for me."  
"I plan on doing that later. Now, hold me?"  
And so he did. He held her close as they watched the large crowd from earlier began to disperse, and as their friends chatted with each other about what happened. They watched the Capps formally introduce themselves to Ripp's father, who seemed to already know them from somewhere. It almost felt like they were normal teenagers who got caught sneaking out or something, but they knew that their lives would probably never be normal again after tonight no matter how hard they tried.  


* * *

  
Well, Tank, all of your military training and weird romance lessons from Ripp has brought you to this moment. Okay, maybe not the military part, but the romance lessons did!  
  
When no one was looking, Tank had asked Angela to come with him somewhere private. Okay, so maybe it was just by the firetrucks that began to pull away from the scene, but it was still out of earshot from their friends. Once he deemed them far enough, he stopped her.  
"What's up, Tank? Is there something wrong?" She asked in concern. As sweet as it was that she was worried, he shook his head.  
"No. I had to tell you something, actually."  
"Oh, then what is it?" She asked, head tilted. Well, it was now or never, Tank. If she didn't react positively, he would not cry or try and convince her. He would be okay.  
  
His palms were sweaty, his knees were weak, and his arms felt heavy, but he managed to take one of Angela's hands into his. He gulped, dropping down onto one knee and he could see that Angela looked surprised at this gesture. Whether that was a good or bad thing he didn't know, but he did know that he needed to get this out there as soon as possible."  
"I... um..." He couldn't speak. He was way too nervous.  
"Tank...?"  
Nope. He couldn't do it. Military training was one thing, but this was another. He didn't want to mess up whatever thing he had going on with Angela, "You know what, nev--" He froze again. Angela had took her hands away from him, instead putting them on his arms. She kneeled in front of him, looking into his eyes.  
"There's something bothering you. I'm not going to leave until you tell me what's wrong, and I'll even text you if I have to."  
  
Great job, Tank! By trying to avoid one situation, you got yourself stuck in another one! He was looking at everything but her at this point, and she eventually tilted his head to face her. They were so close, her green eyes looked much brighter than they usually did even though she looked concerned. He could see a light line of freckles dusting her cheeks even in the light of the moon. He gulped again, knowing that he had to fess up eventually. He may as well do it now while he still had the chance to.  
"I.. Angela, I like you a lot." There, he said it, "No, wait. I don't think I just like you. Actually, I think I'm in love with you. I love how much you care for all of us. I love that you were the first person that made an attempt to befriend me. I love that even when I was being cold to you, you still stayed." He was rambling at this point, so he wrapped it up, "I've never liked anyone before. And all I know is that I want to be with you."  
Wow. He actually poured his heart out to her, which was pretty out of character for someone like him, but it's out there now. He tried gauging her reaction, but she was far too surprised to say anything back. It wasn't until he tried pulling away from her did she come back to reality.  
  
"No-! I mean-!" Angela couldn't seem to find the words she wanted to say, so she just threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Of course, he hugged her back. Eventually, she looked up at him and whispered, "I like you a lot too, Tank. I'd be happy to be your girlfriend, so.. may I?" He eagerly nodded, earning a smile from the girl.  
That's when she began to lean in closer to him, closing her eyes. Before he knew it, they were kissing. It was nice for a first, but considering neither of them had kissed someone on the lips before, it was kinda awkward trying to figure out the best way of doing it.  
Still, they were happy with it and they were happy with each other, and that's all that mattered to them right now.  
  
As far as they knew, they were the only two people on Earth right now.


	61. Goth (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another reunion, another adventure.
> 
> That's for another time and place, however.

_165 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 10:30 A.M._  
  
Today, Cassandra had allowed Alexander to stay home from school that day. At first he thought that it was because they had got home late last night, but then Cassandra revealed that school was out anyway.  
  
Their father invited them over for brunch, and they accepted the invitation. They sat in the dining room eating frittatas and blueberry scones with orange juice.  
"So, how is life with Don? How come he didn't join us today?" Mortimer asked. The old man was slowly beginning to warm up to the casanova, mostly because Cassandra was happy with him.  
"Actually.. he was arrested." Cassandra said quietly, wiping the crumbs off her mouth.  
"Excuse me?" The smile was leaving Mortimer's face as he took in this new knowledge.  
"He was behind the kidnappings along with the Altos. He wasn't arrested for this, but he also cheated on Cass with Dina." Alexander said, joining the conversation.  
"My god.. I'm so sorry, Cassandra. I should've listened to you about Dina, and I should've been more wary of Don."  
"No, father, it's not your fault. No one could've predicted him being a criminal, but I should've known that he'd cheat on me."  
  
The family went silent for a moment, then Alexander spoke up, "It's not your fault that he did what he did. He even had me convinced. I know that it may be difficult to do so, but we need to move on from him, because there's nothing more we can do about it."  
"You may have a point there, Alexander, but I got married to that man. Even though I plan on divorcing him as soon as I can, I still believe that he genuinely loved me at some point."  
"Perhaps he did. I saw how he treated you and Alexander at the wedding, and it looked like he genuinely loved you." Mortimer said, taking a sip of his drink, "What will you do now?"  
"I intend on remarrying, but I'll make sure that he's not dating any other woman first. I may have someone in mind, but I'm getting to know him first."  
"And what is his name?"  
"Do you know of the Curious brothers?"  
  
That was Alexander's cue to get out of there, at least for now. There was no way he was sticking around to listen to Cassandra talk about being in love with the Curiouses. Sure, they had alien toddlers that were actually pretty cool, but still! Alexander constantly saw them outside at night looking through a telescope for some reason. They never exactly shared their reasons for coming to Pleasantview either, and he found that weird too. Strangetown sounded like a cool place, but that's probably because Jill lived there and Buck would be going back soon. He was ready to go sit on the stairs and get lost in his thoughts, but someone had just rang the doorbell. He could hear the conversation in the kitchen stop, so he decided to open the door and greet whomever it was that rang.  
  
He wasn't ready.  
  
The woman had long, black hair and dark skin. Her eyes were brown, and she wore small yet lovely golden earrings. She had a black peacoat over a long red dress and wore red high heels. He recognized this ensemble.  
"M-Mother...?" Alexander wiped his glasses and rubbed at his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real. When the woman didn't budge, he threw himself into her arms, holding in tears.  
Cassandra and Mortimer jumped up from the table upon hearing Alexander's cry, and they were just as surprised.  
"Bella.." Mortimer was frozen in place. For some reason, his wife looked way younger than she was when she first disappeared. The few wrinkles she had were gone, and the grey strands she had were also gone.  
Cassandra didn't seem to care that much, seeing as she began to hug the woman after Alexander pulled away. After getting her share, Cassandra pulled her mother into the house excitedly.  
  
"Mortimer. Won't you give me a hug too, or am I too much of a stranger to you now?" The woman asked in a teasing voice. That was enough to get Mortimer to finally move and hug her and shower her face in kisses. He could hear Alexander pretend to gag, but he didn't care. Finally, he pulled away.  
"How? We're all happy to see you, of course, but how did you manage to return?" Mortimer asked.  
"Long story. I'll explain if you tell me what I missed."  
"Ours is a long story too," Alexander said, walking back to the table with Cassandra, "It may take a while to get through it all, but we've got plenty of time to explain." As soon as Bella and Mortimer got to the table, the woman grabbed a scone and ate it as if it was her last meal. She grabbed another one before beginning her story.  
"Well, it all started after I tucked in Alexander..."  


* * *

  
Sandy watched from a distance as Bella reunited with her family, smiling.  
  
She had managed to get in contact with Hermia again, requesting that she'd be the one to bring Bella to her house so that they could speak one more time. The teen agreed, letting her know where the aliens would drop her off.  
She had arrived right as the aliens beamed her down. Bella may have looked a little disheveled, but she was still looking as stunning as ever. Sandy formally introduced herself to the woman again, and explained how she had wanted to rescue her. She didn't leave out how the teens had helped her out too, of course. Hermia was the one who actually got the aliens to bring her back down to Earth, after all.   
As Sandy hailed a taxi cab, she handed the woman her coat because she complained about it being a little chilly out despite it being pretty warm. She didn't question her.  
  
Once they got in the cab and Bella told the driver where they needed to go, the woman began telling Sandy what happened after she escaped.  
"They somehow made me younger, can you believe it?"  
"I can, actually. You've noticed that I look way younger than you, right?"  
"I did when we were both on the ship. They cloned me a second time, and she looked even younger! She looked to be of a teen age that time. They sent her off to a place called Lunar Lakes."  
"I wonder.. do you remember what they used to make clones with?"  
"A machine with all of these weird knobs and switches. Maybe they were trying to figure out how to make younger people for some reason."  
"Maybe they needed more young and healthy workers, or just humans for whatever reason. I'm sure someone will figure out what for someday." Bella nodded in agreement, and the rest of the car ride was pretty peaceful. The driver didn't seem to care about what they were discussing, and that was fine by them.  
  
"Are you sure you can't stay?" Bella asked, concerned, "We could pass you off as one of my relatives or something if you wanted."  
"Tempting offer, but I'm afraid not. I still have business to attend to for now."  
"Well.. will we get to see each other again someday?"  
"Of course. At least, if that's what you want." That seemed to ease Bella's concerns, so she walked up to her house to reunite with her family. Once she stepped into the house safely, Sandy began to walk away. As much as she wanted to join Bella and her family, she really couldn't afford to right now.  
She had accidentally let Loki Beaker and his wife get away, and that could've killed the teenagers that were still in the building. She also couldn't let them get away with what they did to Nervous Subject. Dina Caliente was another person she needed to track down. Darius Alto had mentioned her when he was being arrested but no one, not even her sister, had seen her leave. She couldn't get away with her crimes either.  
  
Sandy had her work cut out for her, but that was fine. Before she could rest easy and possibly settle down, she felt like she needed to do this. Otherwise, who knew how many victims the Beakers and Dina Caliente would claim?  
She didn't want to think about that right now. She had a long journey ahead of her.


	62. Pleasant (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls aren't fighting! They're just chilling.

_215 Sim Lane, Tuesday, 11:00 A.M._  
  
Both Angela and Lilith watched from their mother's bed as she scrambled to get ready for something, clearly amused.  
  
"Light blue dress, mom. It brings out the color of your eyes, and it's just a casual first date." Angela said, resting her head on Mary-Sue's pillow. Lilith was laying across Angela's stomach, replying to texts from their friends.  
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Angela. You want to save the black and red for when you're getting serious and going to a fancy and frou frou French restaurant."  
"For the last time, girls. This isn't a date. We're simply chatting over lunch." Mary-Sue said, sliding into a pair of flats and putting on a lace bolero.  
"Mom, that's literally what a date is. I know that you've never had the time for one these days, but honestly!" Lilith said, putting her phone down, "I don't mind being Lilith Curious, and I bet Angie's not opposed to being Angela Curious."  
"We're not getting married, Lilith. We only met a few days ago." She replied, grabbing her purse and walking towards the room door, "Are you girls sure you'll be fine alone?"  
"Of course, we're sixteen and we're going out to hang with our friends in Veronaville later anyway."  
"Alright, call if you need anything in that case."  
"No, no, go enjoy your date and don't worry about us!" Angela grinned, earning a sigh from their mom. Finally, she left and they heard the front door open and shut.  
  
With that, Lilith turned her body so she could look up at Angela, who looked back at her.  
"They're totally getting married someday." Angela said seriously.  
"Oh definitely. Was there ever a doubt? Though I didn't take him as being into older women."  
"She's thirty-eight, and he's twenty-nine. Only a nine year difference."  
"You kidding? They're basically dinosaurs." Lilith laughed.  
"Do you prefer Nina Caliente and Ripp and Tank's dad then? He's got like eleven years on her I think. I could've sworn Dina was into the old ones."  
"Nah. I'm pretty sure he's in his late thirties like Mom too. He doesn't look that old, surprisingly. Neither does Mom or Dad, and I find that kinda funny. No wrinkles, and I haven't seen grey hairs on any of them either."  
"Maybe sports, the military, and being a politician keeps you young? Maybe we'll unlock their secrets when we're in our thirties and fourties."  
"Ew. I don't want to think about us being their age right now."  
"Fair enough. Hey, speaking of dad, what do you think of his request?"  
  
Lilith stared at her for a moment, then turned away, "No thank you. I do _not_ want to live with him and Kaylynn full time. It'd feel kinda awkward living with the woman Dad cheated on Mom with."  
"Oh, thank goodness. I'm fine with visiting on the weekend, but Downtown isn't quite my style. I prefer Pleasantview more."  
"Same here. So, that's what we're going to tell him tonight?"  
"I guess so. I hope he's okay with it though. He seemed pretty eager to have us living with him."  
"Ha! Maybe he's eager to have _you_ living with him, but not me. He's never liked me."  
"I... can't deny that. Looking back at everything now, I still can't believe I had to teach you everything, and that me, Dirk, and Dustin were the only ones who celebrated your birthdays with you. Dirk was the one who went out and bought the stuff, and we all just pooled our money together."  
"Is it bad that I miss those days? Life before middle school was so much better for us. We didn't despise each other."  
"Oh, definitely. I did like freshman year though."  
"We were so weird back then! One minute we're sharing our things, and the next we're pulling out each other's hair. What made you act out so much back then anyway?"  
"I think it had something to do with Dustin leaving. I noticed how unfair he was to Dustin for being a bit of a rebel like you, and then I realized that I was doing the same thing to you. I tried fixing that in my own way."  
"Huh. I never really thanked you all of those years ago, but I really appreciated it. It made me feel like we were halfway normal again."  
The twins went silent with that, simply enjoying each other's presence for once. No yelling, no fighting, no crazy schemes.  
  
"Hey, have you decided on which college you're going to?" Angela asked casually.  
"Probably Sim State with Dirk and Hermia. Why?"  
"Oh, just wondering, that's all."  
"Where are you going? Still planning on Sim State or Académie Le Tour?"  
"Actually, not anymore! I'm thinking La Fiesta Tech."  
"Say what?" Lilith asked in surprise, but Angela wasn't looking at her anymore.  
"Yeah, La Fiesta Tech. I've decided that I maybe want to live in Strangetown when I graduate. It's not set in stone where I want to live, but I know for sure La Fiesta is where I want to be after senior year."  
"Huh. Didn't take you as a deserty type of gal. Does this have to do with a certain someone?"  
"...Yes. We'll only be apart for a year, so I figured I could meet him again there and get to explore Strangetown at the same time. Besides, I heard that Tybalt's going to Académie, and I really don't want to see him again. He looks mean, and he makes me feel like I've done something wrong!"  
"Oh, I know how you feel. Hermia says his face is stuck in a permanent scowl, and I totally see it! It's funny, because he never looked that angry when we were freshmen, just really stoic."  
"I wonder if he's always getting up on the wrong side of the bed every morning." Angela said, yawning. She sat up and began to stretch, gently pushing Lilith off of her in the process.  
  
"And where are you off to, missy?"  
"Getting a snack. I know we just had breakfast, but I need something sweet." Angela replied, making her way out of the room. Lilith stayed in for a moment, before running out after Angela.  
They had initially planned on just getting one snack food, but they ended up bringing out whole boxes along with some drinks and popcorn.  
Mary-Sue would most certainly scold them when she got back from her little date with one of the Curious brothers, but that didn't really matter to them at the moment. They could just head down to the grocery store before they went to Veronaville to replace what they ate.  
  
The two of them decided to watch some cheesy movies movies together, laughing and cracking jokes the whole time. Sometimes, when it got way to cheesy and/or too dumb, they'd chat about mundane things or act out the scene and make it an inside joke.  
Yeah, for once since their relationship got strained in junior high, they were finally comfortable with hanging out with each other again, and it really showed. It was like the two of them could take on the world just like when they were kids.  
  
They planned on keeping this bond for a long time. They lost each other once, and they refused to let it happen again.


	63. Caliente (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina get cuddles, and Dina gets struggles.

_170 Main Street, Tuesday, 12:30 P.M._  
  
Well, when your little sister goes missing and the man you came to care for moves back to his normal town, you need to make certain decisions.  
  
That's why Nina Caliente decided on moving to over to Strangetown sometime this week. With both Dina and Don gone, there was nothing left in Pleasantview for her besides good and bad memories. Sure, there was Cassandra Goth and Mary-Sue Oldie, but they had their own families to focus on and she felt out of place because of that.  
She planned on moving to the apartments located there until she was able to purchase a house of her own, and she was pretty excited about the whole thing.  
It was a desert town that almost reminded her of Lucky Palms, a place close to Desiderata Valley, that she always wanted to go to when she was younger. Strangetown was the closest thing she had to living in Lucky Palms if she ignored the military influences and the aliens. It was more interesting than Pleasantview, at least.  
  
As lovely as Veronaville was, she wasn't rich or fancy like the other families that already lived there. She _could_ be, but that was never really her thing in the first place. Fancy dinners and parties, having to act a certain way around people? She liked the glamour and wouldn't mind the hard work involved with getting rich, but everything else was such a turnoff to her.  
Past Veronaville was Roaring Heights and further than that was Bridgeport. She went to both places on choir trips in high school, but while she loved the big city, she couldn't imagine herself living _in_ a big city with all of the traffic. Despite this, she wanted to stay near SimCity mostly because she was more familiar with it than anything else.   
  
Even without her falling for the General, she considering moving out to Strangetown after Dina moved in with Mortimer and once again after hearing about Don's upcoming wedding. Dina disappearing and Don being arrested was the final nail in the coffin. She brought this up to Buzz, and his answer surprised her, nearly causing her to spit her coffee onto the table.  
"You could stay with us."  
"Excuse me?"   
"I don't see why not. You've stayed with us here."  
"You do have a point.. but is there enough room?"  
"Tank's off to college next year, and Ripp the year after that. It'll be fine. Apartments can come with annoying and nosy neighbors, after all."  
"Okay, you've convinced me. When will you be ready to go?"  
"This weekend on Saturday. I'll call a moving truck for you too, if you'd like."  
"Yes, thank you!" She smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek, "You're rough around the edges, but you can be sweet when you want to be."  
"I'm not 'sweet', but thank you." He wouldn't face her anymore, which the redhead found to be quite funny.  
  
You know, living in Strangetown wouldn't be so bad.  


* * *

  
You know how I said even villains have happy endings? That was a big fat lie!  
  
Dina's life wasn't going so swell at the moment. Those brats may have gotten Darius out of the picture, but he still had people loyal to him somehow. Said people had chased her right out of Bridgeport this morning, and they were still following her. They showed no signs of giving up the chase either, and that could spell trouble for her. No matter what she did to evade them, they would eventually catch up. They had to have been driving for about three hours now, and Dina's gas tank was running low. She couldn't exactly pull over and stop for gas either, so she was stuck in a tight spot.  
  
She didn't have to worry about the car for long, however.  
  
They started to try and run her off the road. She tried to get away from that, but it was all for naught. She crashed through the metal railing, and straight into some trees. She was surprised she didn't fly straight through the windshield, even though a lot of it flew into her face. She could hear talking from above the highway, so she rested her burning/tingling face on the steering wheel and played dead as two mafiasos came down to check the car.  
"Are you sure she's dead?"  
"Of course she is. Look at all the blood and glass in her face. She _has_ to be dead."  
"True. Well, as long as we've avenged Mr. Alto."  
"He's not dead, you know." One of them said as they walked away from the car. As soon as Dina deemed it safe enough for her to get up, she began to pull glass shards from her face and chest. Luckily, they weren't too big and they didn't hit anything important either. She did note that her hands were quite bloody after this.  
  
Once this was done, she grabbed the few bags she had and stumbled out of the car. She was still quite dizzy, so she took a few minutes to compose herself, noticing a sign that said 'Riverblossom Hills'. Had she really driven that far and that long? It was at least five or six hours away by car from Bridgeport. Well, beggars couldn't be choosers. This wasn't in her original plans, but she was flexible enough to work something out. First things first, she needed to find a house and change up her appearance a little. She'd be going by Diana while she was here, based on the papers her friend forged for her. It was pretty similar to Dina already, but it was unique enough for someone to not look twice at it.  
  
Riverblossom Hills and the surrounding area wouldn't know what hit them. It wasn't like there were Pleasantview, Veronaville, and Strangetown brats here to stop her anyway.


	64. Capp (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've heard of JRO... now get ready for PMH!  
> I couldn't decide if Mercutio or Puck would be cuter with Hermia, so I thought to myself, "Why not both?"

_Capp Manor, Tuesday, 1:50 P.M._  
  
Life in the Capp household wasn't so bad anymore. It was as normal as a rich family who holds killer grudges could be.  
  
Tybalt had left the girls alone today, instead choosing to hang out with Helena somewhere in SimCity  
Consort and Patrizio were catching up on old times and planned on making new memories before they both left this world.  
Hermia and Miranda were sitting outside watching Ariel, Hal, Desdemona, and the other Veronaville kids play around in the yard.  
As for Juliette, she was sitting upstairs in her room, speaking to Romeo and Meadow on her phone.  
"I still can't believe you just up and left! Right when our families are starting to get along too.."  
"Sorry, Jules.. Has Patrizio or anyone else brought it up?"  
"Not Patrizio. Mercutio told Hermia, and then Hermia told me last night when we finally got home. What made you leave?"  
"Wanted to take control of my own life. I probably would've done it sooner or later even without the whole Rosalind thing."  
"Meadow came along too, didn't she? Aren't her parents worried about her?"  
"Well.. she was kinda living on her own this whole time. She was staying in a shack hidden in Pleasantview."  
"Jeez.. I never would've guessed. Where is she now? Or, where did you two go?"  
"We managed to rent an apartment in Desiderata Valley, and the person who owned the place didn't even question us. As for Meadow, she went to buy stuff for the apartment and some groceries with what I managed to take. Tomorrow, we're gonna get part time jobs."  
"It sounds like you've had this all planned out from the start. I hope you guys are alright there."  
"Oh, we are."  
  
Just then, Juliette heard someone coming up the stairs and knocking on her room door.  
"Romeo, I have to go! Let's continue this conversation later, okay?"   
"Yeah, alright. Talk to you later!" With that, Romeo hung up just in time for Hermia to walk in, causing Juliette to relax.  
"Who was on the phone?"   
"Just Romeo. What did you need?"  
"Lilith, Angela, Dirk, Puck, and Mercutio came over. We're headed over to Stratford Strip, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come along."  
"Definitely! I haven't been over to the Monty side in _ages._ I kinda miss sneaking over there."  
"You could still do that after curfew, you know. Just try not to get caught."  
"Oh, just like you, Puck, and Mercutio?"  
"...Yes, just like us."  
"So, what's going on between the three of you now anyway? I know that you like both of them."  
"Well, we snuck out last night like we usually do. We had a chat that involved us all confessing our feelings. One thing led to another, and we all ended up together."  
  
Juliette's jaw dropped in shock upon hearing this news.  
"Wait.. you mean all three of you? Dating? At the same time?"  
"Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?"  
"No, of course not! I'm happy for you guys, but I didn't expect it from any of you. I wonder how Consort and Patrizio would feel.. I know Oberon and Titania probably wouldn't care too much."  
"They'll probably get pissed off or think we're weird." Hermia shrugged, "We don't really care though. We graduate this year, and we'll be free to do whatever once we get into college. We're going to Sim State, and then moving into the Monty Ranch."  
"That sounds exciting. Ophelia convinced me and Miranda to go to La Fiesta with them instead of Académie with Tybalt. I kinda feel bad about it, but oh well."  
"He'll live. He'll probably be happy without us there to bug him and Helena."  
"True.. now, please get out so I can get dressed already!" Hermia snorted, "Don't take forever like usual." As she exited the room, Juliette threw a shoe at her. Unfortunately for Juliette, she managed to deflect it with the door.  
  
Well, fake fight aside, Juliette couldn't help but feel a little bit worried about Hermia, Puck, and Mercutio. They were probably happy with each other, but Juliette felt like Consort and Patrizio wouldn't share her feelings.  


* * *

  
Ah, Stratford Strip. It was the Monty equivalent of 431 Globe Street, but somehow way cooler.  
  
This is where Juliette and Romeo usually snuck off to late at night, whether it was on a date or them hanging out as friends when they later broke up. As happy as she was with Ripp and had no plans to break up with him, she couldn't help but think about Romeo. He had been her first serious relationship as a teen. Sure, there were the boys in private school, but in the end they failed to keep in contact.  
"Did you hear me, Jules?" Lilith asked from beside her on the ground.  
"Huh? Oh, no. Could you repeat that?"  
"I just asked if you wanted a slushie, and what flavor."  
"I could go for one. Mix all the flavors, please."  
"Oh, you like graveyards?" Lilith got up from her place next to Juliette, "Do you drink your sodas like that too?"  
"Yes. You get unique flavors every time you do it."  
"I can respect that." With that, the goth teen walked off to the slushie machines.  
  
Juliette decided to watch everyone else now. Mercutio and Puck seemed to be winning prizes at the crane game for Hermia, much to her embarassment.  
Miranda and Dirk were playing against each other at the Road Brawler arcade machine, but she couldn't tell who was winning.  
She couldn't see Angela anywhere in the arcade, so she figured that she was either outside or in the store portion of this building. Lilith had returned with Juliette's slushie, and Ophelia had joined them.  
"When did you get here?" Juliette asked Ophelia, stirring her drink.  
"We just pulled up with the Grunts. I still can't believe you're actually allowed to hang out here now."  
"I know, it's exciting! With our families finally getting along, I feel like things are really gonna change here. Mr. Alto's been working tirelessly with Consort and Patrizio to improve this town."  
"Mr. Alto? Wasn't he arrested?"  
"This is his older brother, Prospero. He wasn't in on whatever that scheme was at all."  
"Huh. I'm surprised he's not bailing his brother out." Lilith said, sipping her drink.  
"I'm not. He was pretty angry about Darius' lackeys kidnapping us, and promised to make it up to us somehow."  
"I always thought they'd both be Mafiosos."  
"So did I. He's actually pretty nice!"  
  
After the trio of girls finished their discussion and their slushies, the Pleasantview and Strangetown teens asked for a tour of all of Veronaville. Not surprising, since they'd be able to hang out here more.  
The Capps, Puck, and Mercutio were more than happy to do so.


	65. Grunt (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And that's end of this story, but not the last time we'll see these characters. Give me ideas on how to continue their story!
> 
> Check out my other story, Riverdonna Valley, in the meantime! Thank you so much for sticking with this story until the end! I really appreciate it.

_Veronaville, Tuesday, 3:20 P.M._  
  
Veronaville was surprisingly huge, at least compared to Strangetown. That was probably because it was split in half by the river.  
  
Speaking of the river, that was the last spot the teens who already lived in Veronaville took everyone else. They all sat on the riverbank, staring out at the water while eating cups of gelato from the Monty side of town.  
Hermia had sat between Mercutio and Puck, who both had an arm around her.  
In a somewhat strange (but not really) twist on 'tradition', Dirk was sitting on Lilith's lap. She didn't seem to mind, so they left her be.  
Tank was sitting by Angela, her hand on top of his and wearing his jacket.  
Ophelia had her head resting on Johnny's shoulder, while his was slightly leaned on hers.  
Miranda didn't have anyone present to curl up with, but she did end up video-chatting with someone from Desiderata Valley.  
  
As for Ripp? He and Juliette were sitting slightly far off from everyone else, actually holding hands.  
"It feels like forever since we've been able to hang out like this." Juliette said, sighing.  
"I know, right? I can't believe this happened in a span of almost three weeks."  
"Quickest mystery I've ever seen. But then again, any longer and she would've probably been on Lunar Lakes already. I'm kinda glad we can go back to school."  
"It's been an eventful first month back, huh?"  
"I'll say. I wonder if senior year's going to calm down for us."  
"Doubt it. We're danger magnets, you know. I'd be more surprised if it _didn't_ calm down."  
"Oh dear. What's next, Dina and Darius coming back to get revenge on us?"  
"Don't jinx it!"  
  
Juliette raised a hand in defense and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, sorry. Just.. I can't help but think about it." Ripp squeezed her hand to comfort her a little.  
"Guys, gondolas!" Miranda shouted, pointing down the river. Sure enough, there were a whole bunch of them. "Let's get on them!"  
"Well, Juliette? Are you up for it?" Ripp asked, getting up.  
"You don't even have to ask. I've always wanted to get on one with someone." All of the couples had made their way over to the docks, paying and climbing into their assigned boats. The best thing about living in such a small town? No long lines!  
  
"All we need now is some music." Juliette said jokingly. As if on cue, the gondolier began to sing a love song, "Well, that's been taken care of."  
"I would've sung if you asked." Ripp said, scooting closer to the girl.  
"Nah. I'd rather talk to you right now. We can sing a duet later, if you really want to."  
"There's no way I'm missing out on listening to you sing. I bet you sound great."  
"Define 'great'. Singing aside, this really is a lovely place to be right now. I kinda wish it were sunset right now though."  
"Oh, that'd be super romantic. Just picture it; You, me, and this boat and river. The sunset casts a pinkish gold glow on the water, and it casts a glow on us too. Just like a scene in a picture."  
"That sounds lovely.. but what do you know about romance?" She asked teasingly. The brown haired boy raised an eyebrow.  
"Do you really want to know?"  
"Yeah. Knock my socks off."  
  
Bad idea, Juliette. He scooted closer to the redhead, pretty much caging her between the boat and himself. She didn't say anything, so he began to lean in.  
  
That was where they had their first kiss. They didn't mean to toot their own horn, but it was pretty magicial.  
They didn't need to know that the other had gotten their kissing experience from movies and pillows.  


* * *

  
Tank and Angela weren't being as romantic as the other two, but they were still being quite sweet.  
  
Angela had ended up rolling up the sleeves to Tank's oversized (at least on her) jacket, and dipped her hand into the water.  
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Tank asked.  
"Yeah, this was a great idea! I'm having a lot of fun."  
"I'm glad to hear it. So, can I have my jacket back?" She pretended to think about it.  
"Hmm, no. As your girlfriend, it's my duty to steal your clothes and wear them."  
"Is that right? I can't say I've ever heard that rule before."  
"It's the new law. If you fail to follow it, something bad may happen."  
"Like what?"  
  
Needless to say, Tank wasn't expecting Angela to flick water into his face.  
  
She was giggling at his slightly annoyed expression.  
"Oh, you think that's funny?"  
"I think it's hilarious!"  
"Well, let's see how you like this." He did the same thing as her, and he ended up laughing at her serious expression. It slowly faded away when he realized she wasn't laughing with him. "Ange?"  
"Tank, dear.. _This means war._ "  
He was glad he wasn't wearing his camo facepaint anymore. She pretty much splashed him as if they were in a pool or something. He returned the favor by sending a wave at her.  
Surprisingly, the gondolier said nothing at this humorous exchange, instead choosing to basically ignore them.  
  
When they were done slinging water at each other, they simply stared at each other in awe. The both of them were dripping wet by the end of it, and so was the floor of the boat. As they took in each other's appearances, they ended up laughing out loud. It was weird to see the other looking so disheveled and honestly, they looked like hot messes. But they didn't really care about that. Sometimes letting loose was good, and as far as they could tell, no one else noticed or did the same thing as them.  
It was nice to not have to act oh so perfect or oh so stoic around each other.  
They had even stayed up late to call each other when they got home. It was funny, because they were both usually early birds. They both still woke up earlier than everyone else, but later than they usually did. They planned on calling each other again tonight, even if they didn't have much to say to each other. They had a silent understanding of each other.  
  
Regardless of what happens in the future, it didn't really scare them. They had their friends, and they had each other.  
Not even mafiosos, gold diggers, or even highly protective rich families could change that. That applied to everyone in this group as a matter of fact, and not just the couples.

They'd be there for each other now, and they'd be there in the distant future when they were grey and wrinkly. After all, it'd be pretty rude to ditch the friends you took down the mafia with.


End file.
